Tag Archives: review

Review: Imago

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Imago
Imago by Joseph O. Legaspi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m not even sure if this book needs a review from me, but I have to say I fell in love with it. I won’t belabor the point but this was a collection where I found myself stopping to go back and read poems before I even wanted to go on; this is a collection I didn’t want to end. Legaspi has a gifte for taking topics (like growing up – as most of these poems reflect back on) and somehow avoiding the potential cliches that come with those topics.

I love many of the poems, but one of my favorites is “The Red Sweater” where Legaspi writes, “hours are merely links / in the chain of days startlingly similiar, that being in the blue morning with my mother / putting on her polyester uniform, which, / even when it’s newly-washed, smells / of mashed beans and cooked ground beef.” I know I have a poem that thinks back on my own mother and her clothes that smelled like BBQ and ice cream. I can relate even though the smells were different; that is a wonderful gift to bring to a poem – empathy.

I can’t recommend this one enough, but if you want me to quibble on one thing it might be the final poem. I may be hung up on final poems lately, but I felt this piece – perhaps – tried to sum up too much in a somewhat surreal place. I missed the more concrete poems that came earlier and I would have been thrilled if he had ended with one of the other two poems that came just before the final one.

But, who am I to say?

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Review: Mockingjay

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And I’m hoping to see the movie of the first book this weekend! I’m gonna brave the theaters :)
Mockingjay
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How do you review the final book in a triology? Especially an extremely popular one? Does it even need a review?

I need to review it because I’m still trying to process the book and the series as a whole. How do I discuss the book and my thoughts on it without spoilers?

First off, I have to say that I thought Katniss – the protagonist – definitely developed into a more complex character in this book. She seemed very flat to me in the first book, but became more intriguing in the second. I still don’t know that I felt I was “her” as I read, but I could understand better what a life of living in and around war could do to a girl.

The actual battle scenes in this book, at times, seemed overly violent and not as well written as other parts of the book. I know, war is violent, but this just felt choppy. I felt the same way reading the final book in the Harry Potter series. Is there a way to be more subtle about those who are dying or being blown up without actually “showing” it happen? I’m not sure.

All in all I came away feeling this was an appropriate conclusion to the series especially that it seems the author wanted to show – as much as possible – what living through a life surrounded by war can do to a person, especially a young person.

I won’t even get into a discussion of the love triangle. It was there, and was probably necessary, but I don’t feel one way or the other about how it turned out. Its conclusion also makes sense to me.

These books aren’t easy reads as far as subject matter goes, but I’m glad I took the time to read them. They have me wishing there was something more I could do for those around me.

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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: Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis

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Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis
Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis by Amy Ferris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up because I heard rave reviews about it on a few different blogs. I will admit there are laugh out loud moments and bittersweet moments which the author weaves together quite well, but I can’t rave about it quite as much as some of the other reviewers. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it; that isn’t to say I wouldn’t recommend it, but I hate to go in saying – THIS WAS THE FUNNIEST BOOK I EVER READ – because it wasn’t. It was, however, worth a read. There are moments where Ferris’ writing is more like a prose poem and I appreciate her easy to read writing style that is filled with honesty – no matter how painful that can be sometimes.

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Review: Green Revolver

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Green Revolver
Green Revolver by Worthy Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I look back at the notes I took while reading Worthy Evans’ prize winning poetry question, the one word that keeps popping up is Voice.

Now, if you write at all (or have taken a writing class) you’ve probably been admonished to find your voice which – as I recall – felt extremely puzzling. Of course I have a voice? I’m writing, aren’t I? But, Worthy’s poetry collection really stands out for its distinctive voice. SO, perhaps the best way to teach someone about what voice is is to show them a book like this compared to say Whitman and let them just see/hear what different voices can do.

Worthy uses a very simple, conversational tone throughout these free verse poems, yet the poems also feel mysterious. Take the poem “Sunset” where he writes: The man and his wife walked up to the / canyon lip and he said “It’s good, / not great. But the book said to do it / so here we are.” The man said he and / the wife got married and later looked / to the west. . . This poem is in a very distinctive setting, yet I wonder about time. Did the man and woman go there before marriage? After? What book? Maybe it is just me, but the poem made me pause to ponder. I love when that happens; when a poem requires more than one reading; when I ask questions.

This matter-of-fact, yet distinct tone is present throughout this collection of poems that seem to contain speakers who are unsure of something even as they try to do the right thing (whatever that is).

So, I leave you with my brief interpretation which includes a note to myself to ask Worthy about how he choices his linebreaks. That was the only stylistic question I found myself coming back to. But, again, I love when a poet has me asking questions and isn’t just telling me what to think.

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