Tag Archives: book reviews

Review: Ancestors and Others: New and Selected Stories

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I thought I might teach this book in the Spring as we are trying to host Fred at my school’s literary festival, but my guilty pleasure is always doing literary analysis on poetry – I think I’ll stick to that. His verse novel like poetry collection “Midquest” may be what I settle on . . .
Ancestors and Others: New and Selected Stories
Ancestors and Others: New and Selected Stories by Fred Chappell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Way back around 1997 I had the opportunity to take a Modern Poetry class while Fred was still teaching at UNC-Greensboro. His intellect and humor were ever present in that classroom and are on full display in this witty and compelling collection of short stories.

This collection has a really great balance to it. There are shorter stories paced with longer ones. Some tales have a religious/spiritual element to them while others dip into the fantastic with my favorite story being much of an ars poetica (writing about writing) in the cheeky “Mankind Journeys Through Forests of Symbols” which opens with, “There was a dream, and a big gaudy thing it was, too, and for six hours it had been blocking HIighway 51 between Turkey Knob and Ember Forks.”

If you enjoy Southern literature, Fred, fables, and/or short stories in general then this is a collection I would highly recommend.

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Review: The Norton Book of Composition Studies

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I had a few minutes this morning, given changes in meeting times etc, so I thought I’d go ahead and post a review of the thick composition studies book I finished perusing yesterday. Enjoy!
The Norton Book of Composition Studies
The Norton Book of Composition Studies by Susan Miller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I purchased this book (made a nice trade for it actually!) because I may teach composition now, but it wasn’t the focus of my undergraduate or graduate studies.

I didn’t read every single article in this collection from beginning to end, but I did skim and take notes on each one. I found a nice variety of history related to composition studies as well as practical discussions on everything from digital writing to identify formation through the process of writing.

This book will remain in my office as a resource and I recommend it for anyone who is teaching (or thinking of teaching) composition, especially those of us who focused on creative writing and may not have had extensive studies in composition pedagogy.

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Make Friday Write – 2

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We made it to another Friday, but . . .

I did not feel the earthquake. I did hear about it pretty darn quickly though! (BTW, I’m not sure where this picutre originated but the best credit I can give is to this website. The version of it that was first sent to me said next to it: We will rebuild). My husband sent me a text message while I was teaching a class in Kannapolis.

Since I saw you last I attempted to write a few poems, not all of them are attempts I will be keeping, but I keep plugging away. Here is one attempt. I won’t give you any background on it now, but perhaps later if you guys are curious and/or have questions.

–and the poem is outta here as promised :)

Here are some of the in class writing prompts I gave my classes this week: What do you like to read? Do you like to argue? Why or Why not. We talked a little about: setting reasonable goals, the passive voice, critical reading, basics of the argument based essay, and how to fill out job applications. I shared some videos including Educational Paradigms (which sounds boring but is fascinating to watch, and will get you thinking) and also the Can You Live off Minimum Wage episode of Morgan Spurlock’s “30 Days” TV show. The link only takes you to the first part of the episode but the rest are easy to find on YouTube.

And why do I tell you all of this? Because I am love to study, to think, to ponder and I’m hoping to work on that with my students and anyone else I encounter. I feel strongly that we have to be critical thinkers and readers if we want to be critical/creative citizens of our communities. We HAVE to start joining the conversations around us.

Ok – Should I get off my soapbox now?

Oh – before I forget! I saw two reviews of my work this week. One is up at Jessica Patient’s blog Writer’s Little Helper and is about “Fat Girl.” The other is on Goodreads by Curtis Pierce on behalf of “The Wait of Atom.” And one last link that was shared with me for anyone who has ever taught: the poem Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman

I’d love to discuss any of the above with you and I welcome your writing posted (or linked below). I will remove my poem and any writing posted in comments next Friday.

Looking forward to hearing about your writing, your week etc and hope everyone has a terrific weekend! Here is hoping that Irene decides she does not want to visit the coast . . .

Reviews and Roundups

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At the bottom of this post is a book review I posted on Goodreads for a non-fiction piece I finished reading, but I have quite a few other things I want to gather up and share with you today as I’ve been cleaning up my virtual desk, so to speak :)

  • I have a book review up in The Rumpus. It was a honor to read the book in question, to write a review and then to also have it accepted at The Rumpus so huzzah all around!
  • I am also reading the essay/memoir pieces in the newest issue of Hippocampus Magazine so I have to recommend it again. Terrific variety and the magazine is even easy to read on a mobile phone. Or, at least it is on mine!
  • And since this is really on a non-fiction kick so far (with a sorta link to poetry) I think I’ll let it continue this trend by self-publishing another non-fiction piece I wrote about Lay-Away!
  • And the final two things I’ll post today are two very different videos that are both fairly short so look to the bottom of the post!

Our Space, Our Place: Women in the Worlds of Science Fiction Television
Our Space, Our Place: Women in the Worlds of Science Fiction Television by Sherry Ginn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Full disclosure in two parts: 1 – I am a nerd; 2 – The author of this book is a colleague of mine although we don’t know each other very well, just well enough that I was thrilled to pick up a copy of this book.

Dr. Ginn’s “Our Space, Our Place” dealing with women in the worlds of Sci-Fi TV is part academic guide to the TV shows, literary analysis and psychological study. Dr. Ginn is a psychologist with a keen interest in women’s study as well as the world of science fiction.

While there are parts of this book that are very academic and other areas that necessitate summary (especially if you haven’t watched a particular show. For example, Dr. Ginn discusses Andromeda which I never had a chance to watch), overall this is a book that will be engaging to a variety of readers. If you are a fan of sci-fi (especially the TV variety), interested in women’s studies and/or needing a text for academic purposes you can’t go wrong with this thin volume. I read it straight through, but I could definitely see it as a tool for research. And, perhaps for me, a place to jump off into some poems since she discusses (in great detail) one of my favorite Sci-Fi TV shows: Farscape.

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What would you want your final status update to be? What about your archives:

And, then thinking about some unique schools that started in NC!

See you for Thursday Poem Share tomorrow!

Small additional note for those of you keeping up with my Fat Girl marketing: Day 1-YouTube 2-Blog 3-(today) Google +! And I think that final status update video would make a really good writing prompt!

MFA Monday

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Sorry for two things today: having to wrap up the MFA Monday Blog and for being so late. What a busy day of professional development at my school and then dinner with some visiting MFA writers. So SORRY!

Today was supposed to be the day for book reports/reviews. Do you guys have them who are participating?

Ironically, I just proofed a review I’ll have in an upcoming lit mag :)

For a mini shout out I have to mention Robert Lee Brewer‘s limited edition chapbook Enter. This is a really terrific example of when and how to put together your own self-pubbed chapbook. Robert has a great following and he put together a nice little (lightly themed) book of poems that primarily had already been published other places. This was a way for him to get a larger sample of his work out to his readers and it is a really great sample. I’ve already mentioned to him how much I like the poem “8″ in particular. These are poems that make you go back and re-read which is always the sign of a great poetic read.

I’ll do my best to keep up with posting this week but I have long days of training all week. It is easier for me to comment rather than to blog!

Have a great week everyone :)

For those finishing up the MFA Blog program remember the mini “papers” and mini thesis’ we discussed for the upcoming weeks!

Monday Shout Outs

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Trying to work remotely today. Let’s see how this will go :)

Events:

  • Tuesday 9-21 I’ll be helping out between Noon and 2 with a talk some of the Lost Boys of Sudan will be giving at RCCC’s North Campus in Kannapolis, NC. Some of the students read Dave Eggers novel “What is the What” and discussion will follow.
  • Tuesday 9-21 the first Charlotte Writer’s Club meeting of the year. Should be fun to see how the new management of the club hosts things. 7pm at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Charlotte, NC.
  • Wednesday 9-22 I will be reading at the Mind Gravy event held at Gotham Bagel in Columbia, SC. 8pm!
  • Thursday 9-23 Junot Diaz is reading at Davidson College in Davidson, NC. Junot is the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist of “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” which I thoroughly enjoyed
  • Friday 9-24 Green Rice Art Gallery reading in Charlotte. 7pm. Featured readers include Pat Rivere-Seel and open mike follows.

And what else do I have to shout about? Well, I have several books I finished up over the weekend. I had a bunch just pending and I had decided I just wanted to finish them so I wouldn’t be so strict with myself on what I read and when. I have more lit mags and poetry books than anything else right now that have not yet been read, so I decided to finish everything else and then hunker down with all this lovely poetry I have not had a chance to get to.

  • I recently re-read TS Eliot’s “The Wasteland and Other Poems” which I’ve had since I was an undergrad (it still has the USED SAVES sticker from Addams books) but I bought it for “The Wasteland” which was covered in quite a few of my classes. My relationship to that poem could probably be a post all in itself! It was fun to go back to read it and to read the other poems which I was not familiar with. I’m not particularly in love with Ash Wednesday
  • Next up I finished Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool by Hannah Friedman. I actually found out about this book on YouTube (to make a long story short) where I watched some of Hannah’s funny songs and some videos where she talked about writing. I’m a bit torn about this book. I gave it 3 starts out of 5 on Goodreads because while, for the most part, it is written quite well, I did find I found some of the parts a little too similar to the novel “Prep” and I began to wonder: how dangerous is it to write a memoir on a topic that could be potentially similar in many ways to a very popular novel? Just a thought for debate. Also makes me wonder what it would have been like if I had not chickened out when I thought of applying to private schools and/or The NC School of Science & Math (or NC Arts) when I was in college? Would I have gotten in? Would I have sunk into a shame spiral? Hmm. If you are thinking of reading this with your kids please note is is pretty graphic about all the ills that can confront you as a teen (sex, drugs, peer pressure) and I actually don’t have a problem with that as much as I wish there had been a bit more said about how she came out of it, instead of I just decided to get my act together…There are some great tips on writing in the back.
  • I also finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith. This novel took me a while to get into, but once I was in-I was in-albeit it was still a slow read. Smith has an amazing skill to draw a diverse group of characters and does so with the most amazing use of language. I think it was a slow read because it is much more character driven than plot driven. Here is a line example (one of many awesome ones) “In a whisper he began begging for -and, as the sun set, received-the concession people always beg for: a little more time.”
  • As if you didn’t have enough to read. How about a short story
  • and or these great tips on How to Keep Writing (especially after an MFA)

This morning is zipping by, but I’m looking forward to talking to a class this afternoon about, of all things, wordpress. Irony? PERHAPS!

Have a great week everyone. What am I talking about tomorrow? Right now – I have NO idea :) Suggestions?

Mini Reading Round-Up

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First off I want to thank everyone who has supported me in my decision to scale back, to do my digital downsizing. It is something I knew I needed to do but it has been difficult because I love my online communities. There is, however, a real world where things need to be read and written as well; I am trying to garner a better balance between the two.

Balance is something I constantly seek, in my web life, real life, eating life etc. I have been on the computer twice this morning for some organization clean up and quick check in but I also sat down and finished reading an issue of Main Street Rag (Winter 2010) in which there was some terrific poetry such as the linked set of haikus called “Email Inbox Haiku” by Lowell Jaeger of Bigfort, MT and the terrific story “Graceland” by James Armstrong. Yours truly MAY have also had some pretty decent poetry book reviews in it, just maybe.

I love to read. I have ALWAYS loved to read. When it isn’t a part of my life I get moody as I have been for the last few days. I expressed this emphatically to The Laughing Yeti. Take a look!

Last night I stayed up past midnight to get through the last 40 pages of my latest non fiction read: See You in a Hundred Years by Logan Ward. The paperback edition of this book came out in 2007 which may be when I first heard about it on NPR since I was still working full time for at least half of 2007.

SYIAHY is a project book. Logan and his wife Heather, along with 2 year old son Luther, sell their home in NY and move to rural VA to try living as if it was still 1900.  I love year long project books and this was a good read if not just for the technical trials of trying to live without electricity and running water but what it says about ourselves when we learn to go without those things.

Ward is a good travel writer and the book comes across as very honest, conveying the positive and negative aspects of the experience (as well as of his own personality) well. This is a book that will be easily accessible to a lot of readers and I just rated it a 4 out of 5 on Goodreads. I know at least one person out there who wants my copy. It is ready for you next time we get together! I think there is a book waiting for me in trade as well?

I only have one book left in my currently reading pile so before the end of the weekend I think I’ll have the chance to start one again from each genre. Going to my own pending stack of books is like shopping for books all over again as I search through, often surprised at what I had forgotten I had bought in the first place!

Hope you all get a chance to read some this weekend. I think I am going to make Saturday a blog reading day as well :)