Tag Archives: reviews

Review: Into Thin Air

Posted on
8

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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Review: Catching Fire

Posted on
4

Catching Fire
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m surprising myself by giving the second in a series of books a 5 when I think I gave the first one in the set a 4.

I found the first in the Hunger Games series to be a tad predictable and I wasn’t really sure how I felt about the protagonist. I think Katniss is more real in the second book and there were moments that actually surprise me in the second volume. I found myself entranced even if there were a few sections that seemed a bit over the top. Then again, I’m speaking of a post-apocalyptic series of novels where children have to go to battle each other as tributes so . . .

I’ve seen some pretty varied ratings on the 3rd book in the trilogy, but I’ll definitely read it. I’ll probably have to wait until March when I can borrow again from the Kindle Lending Library. 30 days and only one book? That’s like being a kid and being only allowed to take two books out from the library.

But, hey, it is free.

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Review: Pitch: Poems

Posted on
2

Pitch: Poems
Pitch: Poems by Todd Boss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Todd Boss first came to my attention several years back when he was making video poems. At the time, I was editing “Shape of a Box: The First YouTube Literary Magazine.” I never had a chance to feature Todd’s work in my magazine, but his rhythmic style of writing really suited itself well to performance venues such as video. What, therefore, would I think of his work in printed form?

I can now answer that question after reading his newest collection of poems titled “Pitch.” Pitch is a word with many denotations and connotations which (except for baseball) Boss makes good use of throughout this book where there are literal instruments (primarily piano) addressed, but where Boss also tries out different tones, textures within the poems themselves.

Reading this collection made me think of buying my first cassette tape (I know I am dating myself a bit with that reference). I often picked up an album because of one particular song. There were always other tracks on the album that weren’t quite what I was looking for, but I still enjoyed having the collection together as a whole. This is how I felt reading “Pitch.” Not ever poem is one I found myself going back to re-read because maybe they did use a bit too much word play (slant rhymes, repetitions etc) but there were a wealth of poems that kept me coming back for how much fun they had with the sounds of words within a free verse writing style.

One of my favorites is “Blind” where Boss throws out some dark humor as he writes, “One day the doctor tells you that you’re blind / to the truth. . . . Truth is a wave-/ length in the spectrum you’re unable to detect.”

That’s just a taste, or perhaps I should say, a note. You should find a few more samples (chords) and then pick up a copy for yourself to see which track becomes your favorite.

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Review: The Hunger Games

Posted on
4

I also posted a writing prompt for my creative writing students based on reading this book so I’ll share it here as well: what kind of post-apocalyptic world would you create? Any genre could work on this. Is the world “over” because of disease, war, aliens, zombies? What kind of people are left? What kind of scenarios will you put them through?

The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finally jumped on the bandwagon to read “The Hunger Games.” I have read quite a few post-apocalyptic books over the years, especially in the YA genre, and while Collins has a unique setting for her book, I still found myself for the first 100 pages of the book or so going – um, saw that coming.

The main character is interesting enough, but she did little that I wouldn’t expect her to do: the strong girl who lost a father who protects/provides for her family while not realizing how beautiful and amazing she is. That being said, the story did become a page turner and I found myself wanting to finish. I wanted to see the end of the Games. I’m also interested enough in the world Collins has created that I have added the second book to my to read list. Not enough that I’ll download it (I did read it on my Kindle Fire) immediately, but enough that I do hope to get to it someday.

Definitely worth a read and I can see why teachers love it as well because there is a lot for you to talk about with war, loss etc…

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A Review: Memory Bones by Sara Claytor

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2

The first time I heard Sara read her poems was in Hickory, NC. She didn’t even need the mic as she recited (from memory) a long poem from her first chapbook before reading from her full length collection.

Since then I’ve had the chance to spend time at different events with Sara, including reading with her in Fuquay-Varina, NC. She is a ball of fire and that vivacity comes through in her new chapbook Memory Bones.

Sara has fun telling these stories that are shaped around the bones of her past. There are poems about her “white mother” vs her black mother (the housekeeper) as well as first loves and longer relationships that all have some level of marrow into making us who we are.

The poems flow fairly nicely from piece to piece with a sense of a loose architecture (much like the tendons that hold our bones together even though they don’t often touch), but there are a few that feel slightly out of place such as the final poem in the collection which is actually fantastic but I’m not sure flowed as well as the rest of the collection.

It is hard for me to pick out just one quote to mention, but how about some of the word choices in “Aunt Lena’s House”: until the day the rooster king chased me / screams, attacks, blood puckers on my legs. Yep, that is Sara at her southern, descriptive, dramatic and wonderful self.

Sara is one of the readers in this video I made at Poetry Hickory back in 2009 because you know you need a bit more!

Review: The Book Thief

Posted on
4

The Book Thief
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a long, very poetic story which I’m glad I read. There isn’t much to say about the book itself as it is skillfully put together.

Thinking over the book, however, makes me ask the question again: what is Young Adult literature? I know a lot of young adults read this particular book and I think it is definitely a worthwhile read, but it is also a very powerful book that any age could read. So, why list it as Young Adult? When “Huckleberry Finn” was published was it listed as Young Adult?

Just asking the questions.

A quote from the book: A definition of not found in the dictionary – not leaving – an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children.

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Review: My Reading Life

Posted on
2

My Reading Life
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In high school one of my English teachers wrote a Pat Conroy quote on the board. I don’t recall what the assignment was in relation to the quote, but I knew I had to read the book. The quote was from “Prince of Tides” (paraphrase): My wound is my geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.

Maybe a 15 year old shouldn’t have been reading “Prince of Tides” but it was the book I needed to read at the time. I had been writing (or attempting) to write in response to the books I loved as long as I could remember, but there was something about the beauty that came out of a dysfunctional childhood in Conroy’s writing that made me feel I had something I could share.

Granted, my teacher seemed kind of annoyed that I read the book. Or maybe that was my perception. Perhaps I gushed too much. Perhaps she didn’t believe that I didn’t have a typical home life since I was in a higher level English class (no I wasn’t physically abused as Conroy discusses in his books and in the reading memoir I’m getting to…) because I had also been admonished that the stories I wrote weren’t real enough, yet, they were almost always autobiographically….

In a round about way what I’m trying to say is that Conroy’s fiction touched me when I was young and I almost came to tears reading how authors like Thomas Wolfe did the same for him when he was young. I also found myself jealous of the amazing teachers he had and the import of those relationships (positive ones).

If you love to read, love memoirs, and/or are a fan of Conroy I think you will enjoy this book. I really found it moving (and physically beautiful – great artwork) and I may pass it on to someone, but I’m tempted to keep it in my greedy, reading loving hands :)

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