Grasshopper Jungle

1 Comment

by Andrew Smith
First sentence: “I read somewhere that human beings are genetically predisposed to record history.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy highly recommended by our publisher rep.
Content: Weeelll….. sh*t is Austin’s favorite word, and all grasshoppers do is “f**k and eat”. Which gives you a pretty good idea of the language. And Austin and Robby smoke. There is some drinking and one very unsexy sex scene (and talk of masturbating and erections and sex). It’s in the teen section of the bookstore, but I know I’m going to find it difficult to find a parent willing to buy this one for their kid. (That’s not to say the kids won’t like it. They might.)

The short version, the one I’ve been pitching at work (after I realized it was more than “grasshoppers and sex” — though it is that), is that it’s what would happen if Holden Caulfield found himself in a Stephen King novel. Austin — he’s the 16-year-old, sex-obsessed boy whose head we’re living in — is confused and lonely (even though he has a best friend and a girlfriend) and angsty and more than a little self-absorbed, much like Holden. And yet, the setting is so utterly antithetical to our character: a strain of mutant bacteria gets out and starts changing people into six-foot-tall praying mantises whose sole purpose in life is to eat — everything, including each other — and procreate.

Who dreams up these sorts of things? (Well, Stephen King and Andrew Smith, obviously.)

At any rate, it’s nothing like what I expected. I think with all the advance buzz — not just from our rep, but also Publisher’s Weekly, and just the reviews on Goodreads — I expected something, well, amazing. And I got… well, a sex-obsessed, selfish, confused 16-year-old boy. I can deal with that, for the most part (I did make it through Winger after all), and I appreciated Smith for giving us a confused sex-obsessed boy; Austin’s not only confused about life, but also about his own sexuality: how can a person be in love with — and desire — both of his best friends at once?

But, reading through the Goodreads reviews, I stumbled upon one from Kellie at Stacked that made points that I think had been at the back of my mind while reading this book. Nominally, it boils down to this: a woman couldn’t have written a book like this about a girl talking so frankly about sex or her vagina and have it receive the same amount of buzz and acclaim that this one is getting. And secondly: Austin treats girls and women as objects.

The first point, I can see and understand and am a little bit miffed about. It really does go back to this “boy books” and “girl books” thing we (publishers/sellers/parents) have gotten into. We “need” this book because boys “need” this book (because they’re not reading anything else). But that least me to point number two, which is what was bothering me while I read the book. I had chalked it up to being inside a 16-year-old boy’s mind, which is not a comfortable place. But, looking back, it’s really because, to Austin, all women (well, perhaps all people) are a means to an end: sex. He says he “loves” his girlfriend, but honestly, he just wants to jump her. And this — at my very core — bothered me. (In fact, when Robby finally confronts Austin and tells him he’s selfish, I cheered. More of that, please.)

I was talking to a friend at work about this and she pointed out that maybe, just maybe, it was meant to be satirical or ironic. That perhaps we, as readers, were meant to see that Austin is a complete jerk, and find humor in that. Or at the very least, self-reflection.  Perhaps. All I found was discomfort.

There were other things I was disappointed in: Austin’s circular telling of his own personal history, his constant repeating of people’s names (yes, I know Shann’s name is Shann Collins and her stepfather is Johnny McKeon, can you PLEASE stop already?), and just the general uneven pace of the narrative. That said, there were things to admire: actual sentences that made me laugh aloud. Or the fact that Austin’s (and Robby’s for that matter) sexuality was just a thing, and not an “issue”. Or six-foot-tall unstoppable praying mantises.

But I don’t think the positives outweigh the negatives on this one.

20 Middle Grade/YA/Teen Books Adults Should Be Reading

12 Comments

A couple of Sundays ago Watermark had our annual Book Club Sunday (held on Super Bowl Sunday, because, you know, we’re all really into football). One of my managers asked me to come up with a list of kids’ books the adult book clubs should be reading. I never did get a chance to give the presentation at the event (things went long and/or they forgot they’d asked me), but I thought this would make a great blog post. I know I’m mostly preaching to the crowd here (we all love kids’ books, right?), but feel free to pass this on to your bookish adult friends who are gun-shy about reading something “just” for kids.

I decided that the three books adults always ask for, at our store at least, are 1) The Fault in Our Stars, 2) The Book Thief, and 3) The Hunger Games and I used those as my starting point.  Originally, I had picked not only books I’ve read and loved, but ones that are coming out soon. I’ve reconfigured it to only the ones I’ve read, just because I can.

Middle Grade books you should be reading: 

Counting By 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan. What an adult will get out of it: hope, some brilliant writing, and some intriguing characters. “On top of being absolutely refreshing with her subject matter, she never talks down to her reader. Sure, her sentences are simple — it is a middle grade book after all — but they are never simplistic. She respects her characters and her readers, and knows how to pick the best words to make the book flow, even when it’s being simple.”

 Doll Bones, by Holly Black. What an adult will get out of it: I think, actually, adults will get more out of this than kids. It’s a good, creepy story, but it’s more a growing-up story, of that transition between childhood and young adulthood. “The awkwardness, the feeling of being left behind by close friends, the desire to hang on to the things of childhood, the insecurity of facing the future: they’re all there. Dressed up in a Quest, an adventure, a ghost story. “

Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage. What adults will get out of it: a rollicking story, a pretty-good mystery, and a handful of wonderful characters to fall in love with. “But the real reason to fall in love with this book — as I did — is because Turnage has created a wonderful couple of characters in Mo and Dale. In fact, all the characters, from Miss Lana and the Colonel, down to Mayor Little and aspiring lawyer Skeeter pop off the page, and it’s entirely because of the way Turnage writes.” Bonus: the sequel, Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, just came out. I can’t wait to read it.

If You Liked TFiOS (and you’ve read all of John Green’s other books)…

… for the contemporary element, try Winger, by Andrew Smith. Boarding school, boys, rugby, edgy and thoughtful at the same time. I had issues with the ending, but that was just me. “I found myself compelled by this. I was invested in Ryan Dean’s drama. I loved the camaraderie of the rugby team. I enjoyed Ryan Dean, dork that he was.”

… for the precocious kids who are actually smarter than you think they should be, try The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart. Another boarding school, but this time with a brilliantly smart girl at the center of it all, defying the norms, and breaking traditions. “So, here’s to the Frankie’s of the world: the girls who think outside of the box. Who invent neglected positives, and need people to understand (not just talk at) them. And here’s to the books that celebrate them.”
Bonus: E. Lockhart’s new book, We Are Liars, is due out in May. I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about it.

…. for the romance, try Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell. It’s historical, set in 1985, but it captures first love wonderfully. And both Eleanor and Park are delightful characters. “The most beautiful thing about this book, I think, is the slow development of Eleanor & Park’s relationship. It’s not instalove, it’s not all sparks and romance. It’s a friendship that develops into something more. And it’s complicated.” Bonus: I’ve heard most everyone say that Fangirl is better, but I haven’t read it. Yet.

OR

Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins. Because Paris. And Étienne St. Clair. And a smart, wonderful romance. “But I did enjoy the relationship between Anna and St. Clair, it’s heights and valleys, and it’s inevitable, swoon-worthy resolution. It’s not a simple book, and much like Maureen Johnson’s work, Perkins knows how to write a romance that deals with more even while putting the relationship front-and-center.”

…. for the thought-provoking ideas behind it, try Every Day, by David Levithan. It’s a trippy premise, but once you get past that, you find  that Levithan is writing about the human experience, and all its ups and downs. “As I was reading, I thought that it reads much like a John Green book: philosophical and introspective, with always the possibility of being pretentious. (Though I appreciated much of the musings, like how 98% of the human experience is the same and it’s the 2% that we’re always fighting over.) “




If you liked The Book Thief…
There are two authors you need to know about.
Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray. Stalin, concentration camps, solemn and gripping. “It’s a harrowing book, disturbing, and completely wrecked me. I could only read it in short chunks, interspersing it with something lighter, because that’s all I could handle. I couldn’t tell you about the writing, or the characters, or whether or not I liked it, because (like many Holocaust books), I couldn’t get past the fact that this was based on true events.”

Out of the Easy. New Orleans, 1950s. Gritty, intense, and compelling characters. “And Josie is such a great character to root for; I wanted her to get out, to succeed. I felt her heartbreak, her anger, her hope. Which is really the mark of a great writer. Sepetys knows how to engage the reader, to write in a way that makes these characters fully dimensional. And even though her subjects are not pretty, her writing is gorgeous.”

and Elizabeth Wein:

Code Name Verity. World War II, Nazis, British spy, woman pilots, and a friendship story that will rip your heart out. “Things this book is not:
Trite.
Another Holocaust book.
Boring.”

Rose Under Fire. Yet another World War II Holocaust story. But not like you’ve ever seen before. Strong women take the center stage and they will weave themselves into your life. “And yet, even though Wein captures the horrors, and the crimes, and the terribleness (I can’t seem to find a word strong enough) of Ravensbrück, it isn’t a hopeless, dark book.”

And one more (because it doesn’t fit anywhere else):

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, by Leslye Walton. It’s magical realism, which isn’t necessarily my thing. But this one feels more like an adult book than anything I’ve read in a long time. “There’s foolish love, unrequited love, passion, and most of all a magic running through it all. It’s the magic of Like Water for Chocolate: Things happen because of the passion.”

If you Liked Hunger Games….
I figure everyone knows about Divergent now, with the movie coming out. And even though I know they’rea a dime a dozen theses days, I thought I’d pick a few older/less-well known post-apocalyptic/dystopian books that have stood out in my mind.

Blood Red Road, by Moira Young.  Set in the distant future, where the world has gone to pot. It’s a slow starting book, but once it picks up, it’s gripping. “She’s given us a strong reluctant heroine, someone who leads without knowing it, inspiring greatness in both herself and those around her.” It’s the start of a series, and I have to admit that I’ve never gone back and read the others. But this one stands well enough on its own, and is worth the time.

Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. This is the one I’ve had the most success with, at least with kids. They read the Hunger Games, and come looking for something else, and I throw this one at them. And, they usually love it. It’s because it’s smart, fun, and observant. “In addition to romance and adventure and typical end-of-the-world stuff (I loved all the descriptions of the Rusties), Westerfeld has some interesting observations about beauty and society.” First in a series, but honestly, this one’s the best.

5th Wave, by Rick Yancey. ALIEN INVASION. Do I really need to say more? “” There are no magical or supernatural powers, no high-tech blow-em-up sequences, no kidnapping. Just good-old-human grit. And there’s a LOT of that.” It’s also a first in a series, I think, but it stands remarkably well on its own.

Fantasy series worth dipping into:

Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor. “I adore Taylor’s storytelling. It’s dark and sinister and yet so very lovely all at the same time. It’s a twisting, meandering sort of story, and yet nothing superfluous or out of place.” Bonus: if you start this one now, you won’t have to wait for the third, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, which is out in April.

The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater. “There’s just something eloquent in this book: it’s not that its prose is beautiful; I can’t thing of a single passage that stood out. But rather, Stiefvater is eloquent in her simplicity. There’s nothing outstanding about any of the characters individually, and yet as a whole they become remarkable.” There’s only two out in the series — out of a projected four — but honestly, it’s worth picking up and devouring, if only for the way Stiefvater writes.

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. “I loved the action — Cashore has a way with words that vividly portrays action, and I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. Which brings me to point number two: I loved the tension, the twists and turns.”
Thankfully, this series is complete, so you can read one right after the other. I envy you that experience.

Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan. “The only real drawback is that one of the main characters, Nick, is so very unlikable. It’s a turn off at the beginning of the book; you just want to smack the kid upside the head. But, give it time: he will grow on you, he does have a few redeeming qualities. And then there’s Alan, who’s an enigma: he keeps secrets from Nick, he’s up to something, but you never quite know what. They’re an interesting and appealing pair, these brothers.” Again, another complete series. Especially good, now that I think about it, for fans of Supernatural. More people should know about this one.

Okay, that was 20. What did I miss? What else should be on this list?

Audiobook: The Art Forger

2 Comments

by B. A. Shapiro
read by Xe Sands
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: All kinds of swearing, plus some explicit (but not graphic) sex. Definitely deserves to be in the adult fiction section.

Claire Roth is three years out of grad school, and she’s been blacklisted as an artist. It was a bit of a big deal with one of her professors whom she was having an affair with (and who ended up killing himself). But now, when the owner of the most prestigious art gallery in Boston — Aiden Markel of Markel G — comes to her with a Degas — no, the Degas from the 1990 Gardiner heist — asking her to create a forgery of it, she can’t refuse.

Well, she could have. But then we wouldn’t have a story.

This, in many ways, is a story of obsession and compulsion, and because I watch White Collar (which is a quite fantastic show, that) I was already familiar with the idea of how art becomes a compulsion. That said, I still don’t… get it. The depth of obsession, the idea of owning something priceless. It’s just paintings on a wall, right?

That said, I really enjoyed the journey Shapiro took us on. The initial journey of Claire’s painting the forgery, the gradual unfolding of how she became blacklisted, the relationship between her and  Aiden, and the unraveling of all their best-laid plans. Shapiro had a lot of different threads going, and she kept me wondering how they all fit together.

Which does lead me to the end. It all felt too tidy for me. She did manage to wrap everything up with a bit of an idealistic bow (it is fiction after all), and I’m not quite sure I’m satisfied with the way she did that. But that said, getting there was such an intriguing ride, I’m not unhappy I took it.

One note on the audiobook: while Sands was a good narrator — I loved that she did all the voices, though her men all sounded the same — she made Claire often out to be simpering. And that grated on me. Not enough to bail on the book, but I didn’t see Claire as someone who was insecure and simpering. Indecisive and unsure of herself, perhaps. But not simpering.

That’s just a personal problem, though, and only with the audiobook. The book itself was quite fascinating.

And the Winners Are….

2 Comments

(Or the reason February 14th Isn’t Horrible.)

The Cybils winners are announced! Go here for all the awards, but the one I’m most invested in (though none of my three nominations that made it to the finals won…) is the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction winner is:

And honestly, if they had picked anything else, I’d be incensed. It really was the best book we read.

And, because they turned out so awesome, here are A and K’s valentine’s boxes for their parties today.

OH! It’s also International Book Giving day! Find/buy a book to pass on to a child. I think I’m going to finally take those bags of books to our local children’s home. Seems like a much better thing to do today than to eat overpiced chocolate. (Now tomorrow, the chocolate will be discounted. I’ll eat it then.)

Happy Valentines Day!

Cress

1 Comment

by Marissa Meyer
First sentence: “Her satellite made one full orbit around planet Earth every sixteen hours.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Some violence, none of it gruesome. It’s shelved in the YA section (grades 6-8th), but I’d have no problems giving it to a capable younger reader.
Review copy given me by our MPS rep, who likes to enable my addictions.
Others in the series: Cinder, Scarlet

Obviously: If you haven’t read the other two, there will be spoilers.

So, our fearless (of sorts), rag-tag crew of a cyborg, a scruffy-looking nerfherder of a pilot, a disembodied android, a human girl, and a Lunar wolf-man operative are on the run from the Commonweath government. What are the most-wanted on Earth supposed to do? Especially when there’s an insanely evil queen who’s trying to take over the world by marrying the super-hot emperor? (“Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I’m swamped”) Well, hang out in space, of course. And then go rescue Rapunzel in her tower. Or Cress in her satellite, that is.

Except the rescue operation goes wrong, and our group of rag-tag outlaws are split up. Scarlet ends up on Lunar (and doesn’t figure much in the story), Cress and Captain Thorne end up in the satellite, crashing in the Sahara desert. And Cinder, Wolf, and the New Guy end up looking for the crazy Dr. Erland. As the plot thickens….

C’s biggest complaint with this one was that there were too many plot lines. Which is true, to an extent. Meyer is juggling a LOT of balls here. And there are at least 5 (if not more) story threads running through the book. BUT. I thought she managed all her threads well. With the exception of Scarlet, who really wasn’t interesting until nearly the end of the book (oh, but then her story line is tantalizingly interesting, setting up the last book in the series, Winter, well), I thought what all the characters were doing were fascinating. My favorites — probably goes without saying — are the two MAIN main characters in this one, Cress and Thorne. I adored Cress as a character: she’s a bit insecure around people, having been trapped in a satellite for 7 years. And she’s a total fangirl. But she’s also a smart hacker, and a resourceful and determined (if a bit naive) girl. And Thorne, well, let’s just say Thorne is that perfect mix between all the roguish bad good guys in all the books and movies I’ve ever loved. (It’s hard NOT to have a crush on him.)

And even though Cinder’s finally coming into her own, and there are some brilliant moments, it’s still a middle book in a series. It doesn’t stand as well on its own as Scarlet did, but I wasn’t disappointed with where the story is going. Meyer has created a terrifically interesting world, and is doing some fun things mixing the fairy tales in with the cyborg/futuristic elements. I can’t wait to see how it all ends.

From Scratch

1 Comment

Inside the Food Network
by Allen Salkin
First sentence: “Before there was a Food Network, there was no Food Network, or even a world in which it was obvious that there ought to be a Food Network.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It’s a non-fiction book, so there’s that. And people don’t always talk nicely, and Salkin didn’t do anything to prettify it, so there’s a lot of swearing, including f-bombs. It’s in our film/TV section of the bookstore.

I picked this up because I have watched Food Network in the past (back when I lived in Mississippi and Arkansas) and I was, well, curious to see what Salkin had to say about the behind the scenes goings-on at the network.

The thing is: this wasn’t. Not really. It was a little bit: there were stories of how Alton Brown and Rachel Ray and Paula Deen and Emeril and Bobby Flay all got their shows, but it was more the story of the network as a whole.

Which means there was an awful lot about the whole business of the network. Getting it started, ad revenue, selling it, CEO changes, programming…. all of which is behind the scenes and dishy, but none of which I was interested in.

So, in truth, I actually ended up skimming this one, looking for the “good” bits (read: the stuff I was actually interested in), and then just kind of petering out near the end. I guess I wanted more gossip. (I suppose that say something about me.)  It wasn’t a badly written book, and I think someone who is interested in the business of television, or is interested in the Food Network and doesn’t mind the business of television would actually really like this one.

That someone just wasn’t me.

State of the TBR Pile: February 2014

2 Comments

I don’t suppose it’s just me, but I have this habit of throwing things on this pile, and then a month (or two) later looking at them and realizing I have NO desire to read this. Right now, but maybe ever. So, I take them off. And then I feel bad: I really did mean to get to that book, I did want to at one point and time. Maybe sometime.

Still a bit of a slump, and hoping to find a great book that makes me just want to keep reading….

On this month’s pile:

The Road Home, by Ellen Emerson White (Laura has said I must. read. this. I always do what Laura says.)
The Shadowhand Covenant, by Brian Farrey (The Sequel to The Vengeeep Prophecies.)
Across the Universe, by Beth Revis (It’s about time I read this trilogy.)
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, by Sheila Turnage (the sequel to Three Times Lucky. I’m happy just knowing this exists.)
The Diviners, by Libba Bray (for the YAckers this month.)
The Mark of the Dragonfly, by Jaleigh Johnson (same reason as last moth)
The Year of Billy Miller, by Kevin Henkes (It’s “only” an honor book, but I’m still curious.)
March, Book 1, by John Lewis, Andrew Ayden, Nate Powell (because the SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books has it on its list. And there are always good books on there.)
The Thing About Luck, by Cynthia Kadohata (National Book Award winner. I should read it. I don’t know if I will.)
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black (Because Holly Black. Of course.)
Landry Park, by Bethany Hagen (I should. I will. I’ll get to it. Soon.)
Red Rising, by Pierce Brown

What’s on your pile this month?

The Crane Wife

2 Comments

by Patrick Ness
First sentence: “
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy given me by the Penguin rep.
Content: Multiple f-bombs and other language, some off-screen sex. Rightly sits with the adult fiction at the bookstore.

George is your very typical kind-of-loser guy. He’s divorced (nine years) with a child (who’s in her 20s) and can’t seem to keep a relationship (he’s too nice; they always break it off, but he’s always friends with them after). Even though he’s the owner of a print shop, he’s a bit of a pushover, letting his one employee, Mehmet, push him around. But, because he’s nice, because he’s George, when a crane with an arrow piercing its wing unexpectedly lands in his suburban London backyard in the middle of the night, he helps it out.

The next day, a woman named Kumiko shows up in George’s print shop. And suddenly, George’s life — and the life of his daughter, Amanda — are irrevocably changed.

Yes, this is a fairy tale. A very charming, sweet, wonderful fairy tale. Ness divides its time between George, Amanda, and Kumiko’s tales, but does so in a way that doesn’t feel awkward or forced. But it’s not just a fairy tale — or at least not just a one-dimensional fairy tale — art (in this case, paper cuttings) and a slight Japanese-inspired tale within a tale play major roles, which gives the book depth and substance.

But what I enjoyed most with this one was Ness’s use of the language. The fact that one of his characters, Rachel (who is very confused and not at all nice), speaks entirely in questions. Or the way he uses “…” to represent silence. Or the way George and Amanda think of themselves. And descriptive sentences like “He loved physical books with the same avidity other people loved horses or wine or prog rock.” (60) or “Stories do not explain. They seem to, but all they provide is a starting point. A story never ends at the end.” (141-142) or “She stopped, her face scrunching up in some really, really unattractive crying.” (161) There were others, but those are the ones that I marked.

It did all the things I want a book to do: it gave me characters to care about, and transported me away from the dreary winter months. It delighted me, and made me wish I was even a tiny bit artistic.

Delightful.

Jinx’s Magic

2 Comments

by Sage Blackwood
First sentence: “It wasn’t that Jinx didn’t like people.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy snagged from the ARC shelves at my place of employment.
Content: There are some tense moments that might scare a more sensitive child. But, even though there are deaths, it’s all very abstract and kind of distanced from the reader. It’s in the middle grade (grades 3-5) in the bookstore.
Others in the series: Jinx

Jinx’s life has gotten more complicated. Not that he expected any different, really. He’s been told he’s the Listener, but no one has bothered to explain what that means. The trees he talks to are becoming increasingly more panicked because someone — well, the neighboring kingdom — is chopping them down. And Simon — the wizard Jinx is apprenticed to — is trying to stop the Bonemaster (Evil Villain) without much success or help from the other clearings in the Urwald. It’s all a big mess, really.

Jinx has two missions in this book: get Reven out of the Urwald and to that neighboring kingdom, where he is (presumably) the long-lost rightful heir. And then get to Samara to learn how to use Knowledge is Power (or KnIP). Neither is what he wants to do. (He just wants to make sure Simon doesn’t kill himself when he goes up against the Bonemaster, really.) But, do them he must, and so he does. Sort of.

This is very much a middle book in a series. It takes the elements of magic and setting that Blackwood laid out in the first book, and builds on them, but nothing really is resolved. Jinx does grow in his magic usage, though not really in his understanding, and he makes a couple more friends. But nothing is really clearer than at the end of the first book. Additionally, new elements are introduced: an impending invasion from Reven and his newfound power, the existence of an underground society for the use and freedom of KnIP in Samara (of which at least two of the characters are members), and Jinx’s role as the Listener is expanded (at least a little bit). So, the ending really is quite unsatisfying, but that’s just because it’s not, well, done yet.

It works well as a middle book, I think. But I’m reserving final judgement for the whole series until the third book comes out.

What the Heart Knows

1 Comment

Chants, Charms, & Blessings
by Joyce Sidman, Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
First sentence: “
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: None. The book would go in the children’s poetry section at the bookstore.

I picked this one up because it made the list for the SLJ’s Battle of the Books and I was curious. I didn’t know it was poetry.

Let me just say, up front, that the artwork is gorgeous (you can check some of it out on this video here). I almost want to buy this book because of the gorgeous artwork. And maybe buy some notecards with it as well.

I liked the idea of the book: a series of chants, songs, incantations, and blessings. But, I just. don’t. get. poetry. So I don’t know if they were any good or not. I enjoyed some of them, and didn’t enjoy others. And maybe that’s all I need to know about poetry. I guess, sometimes, that I feel I need to have a deep connection with poetry, and I just… don’t.

I don’t know if the answer is to stop trying, or keep on hoping that someday it’ll make sense.