I'm reading again!
Apr. 17th, 2021 10:10 amThanks to my enablers, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
executrix and misbegotten, for sponsoring today's post.
The Dream Life of Citizens: Late Victorian Novels and the Fantasy of the State by Zarena Aslami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have learned that I am completely disinterested in fantasies of the state. LOL But I have been reminded that I need to read Sarah Grand's fiction (I've only read some of her nonfiction articles on social issues).
View all my reviews
Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Atwood is, as usual, phenomenal. If I could only have one poet to read ever again, it would be her.
Themes include aging, the end of life, looking back to the past, grief over her partner's death, gendered violence, pollution, climate change, writing, the natural world--so, many of the themes her work generally engages.
By the end of the collection, my heart is so full. These are poems written by a woman in her 80s who knows that more of her life is behind her than ahead of her, and that unflinching look at aging and the approach of mortality is rendered in Atwood's wry, blackly funny, and sharply witty tone.
Standouts for me include "Souvenirs" (a poem about writing), "Cicadas" (a poem about grabbing onto joy with both hands because life is fleeting), "Cassandra Considers Declining the Gift" (always going to love her takes on myth and the fairy tale), "Zombie" (a poem about poetry), "The Aliens Arrive" (very reminiscent of "Happy Endings" which is possibly my favorite of her poems), and "Fatal Light Awareness" (about bird death due to light pollution).
She will always and forever be the gold standard to which I hold myself when I write poetry, the impossibly high bar I'm hoping to attain.
View all my reviews
The First Woman Doctor: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D. by Rachel Baker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I knew the vague outlines of Blackwell's story but none of the specifics. She was a truly extraordinary and determined woman; kiddo was amazed at all the opportunities women were denied not so very long ago and at Blackwell's courage in defying conventions. I am grateful to the trailblazers like her who have made our 21st century lives so much more equal than they might have been.
This book is old and contains outdated gendered language and terms for people of color. I just changed it as I was reading it aloud (authoress? no thanks LOL).
View all my reviews
executrix and misbegotten, for sponsoring today's post.The Dream Life of Citizens: Late Victorian Novels and the Fantasy of the State by Zarena AslamiMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have learned that I am completely disinterested in fantasies of the state. LOL But I have been reminded that I need to read Sarah Grand's fiction (I've only read some of her nonfiction articles on social issues).
View all my reviews
Dearly: New Poems by Margaret AtwoodMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Atwood is, as usual, phenomenal. If I could only have one poet to read ever again, it would be her.
Themes include aging, the end of life, looking back to the past, grief over her partner's death, gendered violence, pollution, climate change, writing, the natural world--so, many of the themes her work generally engages.
By the end of the collection, my heart is so full. These are poems written by a woman in her 80s who knows that more of her life is behind her than ahead of her, and that unflinching look at aging and the approach of mortality is rendered in Atwood's wry, blackly funny, and sharply witty tone.
Standouts for me include "Souvenirs" (a poem about writing), "Cicadas" (a poem about grabbing onto joy with both hands because life is fleeting), "Cassandra Considers Declining the Gift" (always going to love her takes on myth and the fairy tale), "Zombie" (a poem about poetry), "The Aliens Arrive" (very reminiscent of "Happy Endings" which is possibly my favorite of her poems), and "Fatal Light Awareness" (about bird death due to light pollution).
She will always and forever be the gold standard to which I hold myself when I write poetry, the impossibly high bar I'm hoping to attain.
View all my reviews
The First Woman Doctor: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D. by Rachel BakerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I knew the vague outlines of Blackwell's story but none of the specifics. She was a truly extraordinary and determined woman; kiddo was amazed at all the opportunities women were denied not so very long ago and at Blackwell's courage in defying conventions. I am grateful to the trailblazers like her who have made our 21st century lives so much more equal than they might have been.
This book is old and contains outdated gendered language and terms for people of color. I just changed it as I was reading it aloud (authoress? no thanks LOL).
View all my reviews
