July Poetry and Prose

Poems from this month:
1. You Can Take Off   Your Sweater, I’ve Made Today Warm by Paige Lewis
2. Pound and Brodsky in Venice by Megan Fernandes
3. You Also, Nightingale by Reginald Shepherd
4. Beach by Stanley Plumly
5. History Lesson by Natasha Trethewey

Books from this month:
1. Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix
2. Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
3. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
4. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Let’s get into it, shall we?

TW: Death

Small Boat was our Service95 book of the month and it packed a punch for such a short story. This book takes us through the mind of a woman who does not really want to accept the fact that she has been impacted by the migrant crisis. Impacted emotionally and also in a way that is unsettling. She works for an emergency response agency that dispatches boats to assist ships and passengers traveling by sea. Migrants are on the line with her basically until they drift away into the eternal long night. It’s based on a true story, and we get a really difficult perspective throughout the story. Does she ever understand the consequences of her actions?

The next book was book three for the Farseer Trilogy and wow, writing this I feel like it’s been ages since I read this book. This novel wraps up the trilogy in such a beautiful way and really leaves you wanting more! Everyone comes crashing together in the end, but also so many new mysteries and elements are introduced that I get why there is so much more to be discovered. While the last book really showed me more of Fits, this book added depth to a lot of the other characters, which I appreciated. Also, we do finally get to figure out who the Elderlings are which is awesome! I am still in line for the next book on libby, which is annoying because I haven’t had to wait in line for any of them before. I think I will tackle the Liveship Traders trilogy next.

The third book was such a 180 from the last book. It was short and sweet and a little cliche and predictable but that’s okay! A gothic romantasy, where a society worships or follows these prophetesses on the top of the hill. One of them realizes her life isn’t as simple as she has been told. She goes on a quest to uncover the mystery with an annoyingly hot knight of course. Give me a spinoff with the gargoyle and I’m SAT.

The last book was a real ponderer. It was really nicely put together. The character had questions that we would have so it was easier to digest such complex ideas about why we are here and what the future holds. They call it a spiritual adventure and it is indeed so.

Book Goal Tracker: 26/30

Looks like I came out of the gate hot so I am not worried at all about completing my goal. This is a good thing but somehow I wish I were more nervous to finish lol.