Poems from this month 😀
1. Woof, This Heat by Kate Partridge
2. Postscript by Marie Howe
3. Nox Borealis by Campbell McGrath
4. Wreck by Stefania Gomez
5. Why Are Your Poems So Dark? by Linda Pastan
6. Photo of Miles Davis at Lennies-on-the-Turnpike, 1968 by Cornelius Eady
7. Love in the Weather’s Bells by Jay Wright
8. won’t you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton
9. And These Are Just a Few … by Melvin Dixon
10. Kissing the Opelu by Donovan Kūhiō Colleps
Books from this month 😀
1. You, With a View by Jessica Joyce
2. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
3. Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel
This was my first time reading a Jessica Joyce book, and I read it for my upcoming girls trip with some friends from Trinity. We tried this last year, reading the same book before our trip and then discussing it while there. This year we are staying local, heading to Rocky Mountain National Park. Blaire suggested this book because it was about a road trip, traveling to national parks (the theme of our annual trips) and because she likes the author. I read this book in one day, staying up late for no reason, but I couldn’t put it down. A spicy romance book that was woven with heartwarming stories and memories of another, older, relationship. If you have a connection with or were close to your grandparents, then this will hit home for you in all the right ways.
I finally decided to get back into my journey through Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings. Book two of the Farseer Trilogy was great. We really get to know the characters in such a new way, and it leaves many questions untold, from who is good to what is going on to now what?? The details are beautiful and feel important, even if you aren’t quite sure what they entail just yet. It’s cool to know that this first trilogy came out right around the year I was born, the second one being the same exact year. The fantasy tropes we read about today are all at play here in this story. I can’t wait for the next book, even if it is over 800 pages.
The final book of this month was the Service95 book, Still Born, that I anticipated to be an intense story that would resonate with me. Dua and Guatalupe brought up a cool point about the book titles in both English and Spanish having dual meanings. The Spanish title is La hija única, which can mean both the only daughter (literal translation) and a unique daughter/a unique baby. They talked about how there is only one Inés specifically. In English, it is Still Born, which can mean both the literal definition, a still born baby, and also still…born, still here, still alive. Both of these titles are clever, which really captures the cleverness within the books’ pages. We follow two (even three at moments) stories simultaneously. A woman and her miraculous pregnancy and birth story, the story of a woman’s neighbors, and the short story of a birds nest that ties the two together. Love, friendship, evolution, complications, and motherhood all come to play in this powerful true story. Amelia and Guatalupe did add elements they felt would create a more holistic story and a more relatable story. Amelia wanted this story to be told so that other women know they are not alone.
Book Goal Tracker: 20/30
Madeline Daily 