Tag Archives: non-fiction

Get Out of My Crotch – A Review – Discussion Starter

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Get Out of My Crotch: Twenty-One Writers Respond to America's War on Women's Rights and Reproductive HealthGet Out of My Crotch: Twenty-One Writers Respond to America’s War on Women’s Rights and Reproductive Health by J. Victoria Sanders

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I gave up on writing reviews, or more formal reviews, for a while, but this book made me want to return because I felt it was a terrific example of how to discuss a very weighted topic.

When I teach argument based writing one topic that is off limits is writing about abortion. Why? Well, I could probably go into a large list of reasons, but mainly because the students who chose to write on the issue think it will be “easy” to write about. They pull up a few statistics from Google, and then quote the Bible. They consider this complete.

Most students I’ve encountered (and non-students who try to discuss this) don’t actual engage and consider the issue from a variety of angles. This collection of essays isn’t just on abortion (but most are), and I think it adequately engages the topic with personal stories and up-to-date studies/facts etc.

I like the way the book is designed, and the variety of stories shared. If I have one quibble it might be that the viewpoints could have been a bit more varied. There is one distinctly male voice (and I love that there is a graphic/comic!) although I am happy to see at least one writer that didn’t want to surrender to a specific gender identification. I think it could have also served the book well to see if anyone on the other side of the debate was wiling to jump in. Did anyone try because this is definitely a pro-choice leaning book.

That being said this is a strong collection of modern views on the issues surrounding reproductive rights as well as female health and wellness in general. I’d highly recommend this one as a start. I would love to see other collections that continue the debate.

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Across the Genres

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My first online class offering (starting January 7th) is called Write in a Flash. The title is, in part, a play on words because – of course – the term flash fiction exists (which we will cover), but I also want the title to make you think of writing in two different ways: quickly and/or from the moment of inspiration (another kind of flash). The class will cover short versions of each genre (non-fiction, fiction, drama, poetry) which will hopefully give each participant a chance to try different forms as well as give them pieces to work with towards longer works (or publishable work) in the future.

I’m thinking about that class offering this morning (registration is open, but I know most people will sign up after Christmas) as I look over the few items I have to discuss.

Non-fiction: I finished Sandra Beasley’s memoir Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl. Filled with personal reflections on a life filled with food allergies and lots of research into the issue of living with food allergies, this was a great read. I think it could make an interesting gift as well especially for anyone who has ever thought food allergies are fake.

Fiction: I have two fiction pieces to mention. The first is the short story collection An Orinthologist’s Guide to Life by Ann Hood which I picked up when she read at the Charlotte Writer’s Club. The Goodreads description is a good one so I’ll let you click over there to check it out. The second fiction book I finished was Stephen King’s 11-22-63. I used to be a huge Stephen King fan. When I was about 15 I became obsessed; I was gobbling up every book of his I could find at the used book store. Heck, when I got into the Dark Tower series and new books were coming out I sprung for new editions! Then there was his book “The Cell,” and I quit reading him for a while. But, 11-22-63 is a really terrific read. This book isn’t just good for Stephen King; it’s just good.

Drama: OK, I’m cheating a bit with the drama category because instead of books I’m going  to mention a few things I have watched recently. I’ll mention one fiction and one non-fiction. The first is a movie called Puncture. I wasn’t sure about this at first because it dealt with someone suing someone else and sometimes those movies are so FAKE, but this one was pretty well done. The other I’ll note is Craigslist Joe. I like the concept more than the actual documentary, the narrative felt a little off to me. Still can’t quite put my finger on why…

Poetry: My most recent poetry read is Jessy Randall’s Injecting Dreams into Cows. I’ve read Jessy’s other books, and I’m glad I went ahead and grabbed this one as well. As more people roughly around my same generation start publishing more I love seeing what things from their childhoods and young adult lives will make their ways into their work. In this case, you can’t go wrong with several Ms. Pac-Man poems. I still remember that as the one video game I ever saw my mom play in the arcade.

So these are just a few of the things that have inspired me lately. What has inspired you?

PS I will try to get Thursday Poem Share up this week, but if I don’t make it – sorry in advance!

Many Mini Reviews

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Yesterday I caught up most of what has been fueling me in video and today I want to post some mini book reviews:

  • First up was a quick and terrific read by Robert Lee Brewer. I finished his second self-published chapbook ESCAPE. Robert approaches self-publishing in the right way. Many of the individual poems were published in literary magazines first before he put together the collection. Robert also has a built in audience that warrants having an item to see so two thumbs up for Robert! I am particularly fond of the skill Robert has to shape the endings of his poems. One of my favorites was “always at a crossroads” where he starts with “you’re afraid. the wind stopped holding the flat,” and ends with “not every cornered animal bites.” Don’t you just want to know what went on between those lines? Limited edition chapbook btw if you don’t have a copy yet. Not sure how many he has left!
  • Next up was the most recent novel I finished When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka. I’ve had this on my list for a while because I’d heard of how wonderful a writer Otsuka was and I’m also amazed that it wasn’t until I was about 30 years old that I ever heard there were internment camps in the US for Japanese-Americans during WWII. For an example of her writing style, “Sometimes, when he was running, he could hear it clacking against his lucky blue stone from the sea and for a moment he felt happy. His pockets were filled with good things.” I think that last sentence would make a fantastic writing prompt. Feel free to borrow.
  • The second poetry book I finished is another title from Sibling Rivalry Press by Stephen S. Mills titled He do the Gay man in Different Voices. I’ve already submitted a poem (a cento) I wrote in response to the lines in this book so I can’t post it this week, but this is a book that will conjure up a response, I think. Mills is a skilled poet who writes those long lines and long poems that I always envy since I tend to do everything on the short side. Some people might say this is a very in your face book where there is sex, violence, and everything else that goes into an R rated or higher movie. But you will know that from the first few poems and yet you will read on because there is a hunger to the voices in these poems that wants to be let out. And, as one line said, “their fascination with the way color leaves.”
  • Finally in my paper based reading that I’ve finished recently is the non-fiction book Power and Control in the Television Worlds of Joss Whedon by Sherry Ginn whom I may have mentioned before. She is a psychology professor where I teach and we presented together about sci-fi themes in different forms of writing. Or as one of the librarians put it – we talked about geek poems :)  It is for Dr. Ginn that I’m working my way through revisions on my “Farscape” essay for another book for which she is the editor. Sherry has a great voice. She is able to weave her love of pop culture and academic writing into a fairly easy read. And, come on, how can you beat reading a book that critically analyzes some of my favorite shows like “Firefly” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer?” Well, I couldn’t!

This week I only have poetry books in my pile because I’m trying to steam through my remaining paper based books before summer’s end. Then the decision will be: do I go completely paperless for reading or not?

Taking questions, comments etc about these books and/or what you have been reading. Do you review on blogs and/or other sites? Share your links!

And – of course – READ!

Ways of Reflecting

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I’m going to re-cap/reflect on three books I finished recently because they all also reflect but do so in their own unique way.
Fist up is What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell which, by finishing, means I have read all of Gladwell’s books. I love his work. I’m not even sure exactly how I first came across his work, but it may have been from a TedTalk that my husband sent me. In any case I read, quickly, his other non-fiction books and always came away with quotes that I responded to (for example there is a poem in “An Amateur Marriage” that uses a quote from Gladwell. This collection of essays that Gladwell researched and wrote for “The New Yorker” did not disappoint. I took a screen capture of one of the pages of the book above from my Kindle account which is how I read the book. I was playing with the screen capture because I had some notes I wanted to perhaps put together to share with you and/or my classes in the fall. I found that a clunky way to go about it. I ended up picking up a copy of the book itself because there were several articles I wanted to photocopy and turn into PDF’s for limited use. Therein lies one of my small issues with using the kindle. Granted, many are online and I could have gone that route as well, but . . . I do still love a good paper book. That’ll be interesting as I continue to develop my digital writing and reading. For one example of Gladwell’s writing you can link through here. I want to show other writers how he composes. He can pull seemingly unrelated “scenes” together and find commonalities which I find engaging.

Up next is the poetry collection If Words Could Save us by Tony Abbott. Tony was nice enough to trade books with me when we read together at Poetry Hickory back in February. He is such a terrific poet and personality in the NC poetry world. I still need to sit down with the CD that is included, but I have heard Tony read quite a few times and it is a delight. Lately he has been memorizing a lot of his poems which is a wonderful exercise I don’t try to do enough. Tony has had a long career and yet these poems are still wonderfully about the journey that is life. I circled several poems while I was reading with one of my favorites being “Favorite Son” which brings together several of the topics the book regularly reflects upon such as: relationships, ekphrasis, and an eye to scripture. Abbott writes, “a man and his son talk quietly / before the ‘Sacrifice of Isaac, / . . . The son asks questions. / The father answers. I do not speak / Italian, but I understand the son’s / beseeching tone.”

I have to finish up with Megan Volpert’s Sonics in Warholia which is sold as a poetry book, but in many ways I think it walks a wonderful line between prose and poetry / fiction and fact. I found myself taking copious notes as I read, especially at the beginning of the collection where I loved this surreal poetic conversation that Megan was having with the ghost/memory of Andy Warhol. It is hard for me to pick a favorite out of here but I’ll just mention the first one for sake of argument “Portrait of a Mix Tape” where Megan weaves music with reflections on Andy. For example one “stanza” (paragraph?) uses lines from Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” with “Mack the Knife” if I am getting all of my pop culture references correct. Clever and thought provoking even if you aren’t particularly a fan of Andy Warhol.

And with these reads I had my Amazon wishlist down under 200 but I’m afraid it has gone back. Also my pile of paper books was down to about 21 and then I hung out with poets last night so it is back up as well.

The neverending story :)

Reviews

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It’s that time again: reading round up.

I actually finished two books on the Kindle recently. Even though I didn’t feel I had much time to read somehow having an e-reader can make the time fly by. I finished Mary Roach’s Bonk which was another fun scientific read and the fantastic memoir Talk Thai. I high recommend that one! The only real drawback I’m having with the kindle is sometimes I take notes while reading – like I do on paper – but I forget about them.

I also finished up some lit mags include an issue of Poetry East which I was thrilled to be in. I found a lot of new poets to admire. I added Susan Blackwell Ramsey’s book to my Amazon wishlist, for example. I also finished an issue of Smartish Pace. I’ve been a fan of SP for a while. I’ve submitted several times and I even had “ink” from them one year. This was the first year I subscribed and at first I wasn’t sure I was enjoying the issue, but the further I got into it the more poems I found making me go – AH! I was pleased to see James Cihlar, who worked for a while with “Referential,” in the pages. His poem even inspired – in part – the poem I hope to post tomorrow for discussion. And my office mate Jenny Beaver has a terrific poem in the current issue of Silent Revelations.

Oh wait! More lit mags. Great stuff – as always – in Hippocampus Magazine and I found another awesome poem to love in decomP. And, finally, how about this poem by M. Scott Douglass in “Redheaded Stepchild”? I’ve heard it at several open mics but glad to see he found a home for it. Well, one more, not just for Teachers.

On the paper side of things I finished two: Men Who Understand Girls a fiction chapbook from Folded Word Press an the YA novel Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson. The former is intriguing although I found myself wanting a bit more clarify with the really super short pieces. The longer pieces engaged me a bit more. The latter was a pretty solid read. I’ve read a lot of Maureen’s work and this isn’t my favorite, but not bad. It takes a fairly typical story of a girl who hasn’t been kissed and puts her in a very unusual scenario to solve that problem. The oddest thing about the book, for me, was that it was written in a limited 3rd person. I’d love to ask Maureen why she decided to do that. I kept thinking it was in 1st person so I’d get thrown off from time to time. Still a solid – what you might call – beach read.

What have you guys been reading? I’m also reading student evaluations of my classes right now . . . Will this end well?

:)

Review: Dog Years

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One thing I didn’t mention in the Goodreads version of this review is how much pets are on my mind right now as I have a 13 year old cat with some health issues right now. We have had to put one cat to sleep for congestive heart failure and one died on us because the vet (not our vet now) didn’t catch that he had cancer. Making the decision with a life is difficult and I do appreciate how Doty speaks about being stewards of both ends of our pets lives.

Dog Years
Dog Years by Mark Doty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first piece of non-fiction that I’ve read by Mark Doty, but I was already familiar with his poetry. This memoir – of course – has a very poetic feel to it which is a good skill to have when reflecting on loss through the passing of pets and partners. Doty risks sentimentality and, I think, largely succeeds at being open without being overly sappy about doing with grief at those who pass on before us.

This was another book I read via my Kindle and it read well that way. The chapters are short enough to make reading the book in spurts effective and enjoyable even given the somewhat sad subject matter.

Definitely worth a read, especially for anyone who wishes to empathize/share in reflecting on loss and recovery.

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Review: Into Thin Air

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Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read Jon Krakauer’s work when a friend was gracious enough to share a copy of “Into the Wild” with me. I really love his writing style and I almost gave this book a 5. The only reason I didn’t is because I found the number of “characters” a bit daunting. This isn’t his fault as he was trying to recount a very involved real life event. I also felt a bit bad for him that he had to add a section at the end of the book to update an ongoing debate from other participants (and writer’s of other books) in the tragic events in the 1996 Everest climbing attempts. I, however, appreciated that he did do that and I think it would be fascinating to discuss the situation with my students. We want, often, to write about something dear to us, but deciding when – if or how – to publish those details when others are involved is precarious at best.

Krakauer is a skilled writer and I feel he presents himself as “truthfully” as he possibly can given the magnitude of the tragedy that he is writing about. I’d highly recommend this book for anyone.

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