Tuesday, July 31, 2012

5 Reads / 5 Days

1. THE MEADOW by James Galvin. A gorgeous piece, an extended essay/poem on generationa growing up on a meadow perched on the Colorado-Wyoming border. Sounds dull. All the excerpts sound dull. But this small gem made me weep and laugh and smile and wish.

2. 40,000 WORDS. In my capacity as editor/classmate. I have visited Nigeria, a dreaming room, a small California coastal town, Sicily, among many other places, and met terrorists, mothers, a woman mourning her lost love, boys coming of age, among others. Wonderful. Of these 8 works, 3 began with a dream or waking up. Not so wonderful.

3. MAPS. Lots of maps. Maps of Delaware, South Dakota, Washington DC, and Boston, MA. Some for practical reasons (how the hell do we detour around Rehoboth Beach?) and others for their capacity to build place, to create setting.

4. HOW TO SAY GOODBYE by  James Valvis. Finally some hammock time to absorb these potent poems that twist and turn in unexpected, glorious ways, leaving my always with a gasp.

5. WITH MY BODY by Nikki Gemmell. Total summer read, a modernized version of The Story of 'O' and Lolita all mashed up. Written in second person POV, this one grows on you, makes you remember the heat of desire.

So... it's summer. Whatchya reading?

Peace...

8 comments:

  1. 1. I'm trying to catch up with Laura Eno's books but she writes them faster than I can read them!!! Seriously, I read 'Raven' over the weekend and it was a classic, well-written romance with an adventurous sci-fi twist.

    2. Halfway through Cutting for Stone. I started out gangbusters on this one, just loving it, but my interest has waned.

    I have a half a dozen books on my kindle, just waiting for holidays next week. Sweet, sweet holidays...

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    1. Laura is a machine for sure. I need to read more of her books--enjoyed the first one. Enjoy your holidays--a week of hammock, iced tea, and books sounds okay by me!

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  2. By the way, The Meadow sounds exactly like my cup of tea... guess I'll add another "to-be-read" to the pile!

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    1. The Meadow is good stuff for sure. Man versus the environment. Galvin has mean writing chops. Peace...

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  3. Creole Belle, James Lee Burke. 19th book in the Dave Robicheaux series. JLB puts out one book a year, usually in the summer and it's the one I look forward to most all year.

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    1. Prolific! I've read the first 2-3 JLB books, but got behind and well... enjoy! Nice to see you here, Harry! Hope all is well in your world. Peace...

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  4. I am reading Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons) and The Girl on the Wall (Jean Baggott). Very different and both an education and a joy.

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  5. I'll have to check them out. I have a book by Julia Baggott on my TBR--PURE. Got it because it's the same name as one of my WIPs.

    Hope life is treating you with kindness. Peace...

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