Salazar favours writing his poems in couplets and I found his style quite musical to read, although I think they are still free verse mostly. The threSalazar favours writing his poems in couplets and I found his style quite musical to read, although I think they are still free verse mostly. The three-part ghazal, « Ghazal at the Bottom of the Gulf of Mexico » that was sprinkled throughout was a particular favourite. The more I read in that form, the more I love it.
#39 in Bullcity Press' Inch chapbook series ...more
A collection of six poems as letters to Vancouver. Contemplating the pitfalls of cities. Extravagant downtown office districts juxtaposed against homeA collection of six poems as letters to Vancouver. Contemplating the pitfalls of cities. Extravagant downtown office districts juxtaposed against homelessness, birdsong drowned out by noise pollution, the squeal of a skytrain at midnight.
Part of The Alfred Gustav Press chapbook series #31, holm. ...more
I love the future library project so much and that this book exists on GoodReads with an expected publication date of 2114. Will be starting my Bryan I love the future library project so much and that this book exists on GoodReads with an expected publication date of 2114. Will be starting my Bryan Johnson/billionaire-live-forever-scheme as soon as my gofundme cash starts rolling in so that I can read these books.
Absolutely loved the art and concept of this book. The whole thing is full-colour illustrations and photographs with a collage-like style. MariNaomi pAbsolutely loved the art and concept of this book. The whole thing is full-colour illustrations and photographs with a collage-like style. MariNaomi picks apart her friendship with a woman named Jodi, who'd ghosted her a decade ago. And just as how this woman has taken up residence in her brain, Jodi is similarly haunting the pages of this memoir.
One thing that was interesting to me, not a complaint, and not something that I think is 'fixable', but this book is advertised as a bisexual memoir, which it is because the author is bi, but it's also very focused on the women's relationships with men and whatever unrequited yearning was going on between the MariNaomi and Jodi, it never materializes into anything. I also know this is a memoir and that's the actual experience of these people. But it almost felt a little like a self-'they were roommates'-ing thing? A lot felt left unsaid and unaddressed, which is also allowed and in line with the themes of the book. So, I dunno. It's just something I thought about a lot while reading this. Maybe that's just a reflection of the inherent difficulty of being bisexual at all. Which is very relatable....more
My little sister's current favourite book and I can see why she loves it. I'm very much looking forward to discussing it with her.
Ultimately, it's a My little sister's current favourite book and I can see why she loves it. I'm very much looking forward to discussing it with her.
Ultimately, it's a book that's focused on kindness. "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind." It's a lovely sentiment, who could possibly complain? So here are my nitpicky complaints:
1. Palacio wrote this after she and her children ran into a little girl at the park with a similar disfigurement to Auggie's. She was disappointed in her reaction and the reaction of her children and this book is what came out of that experience. I think that's great and appreciate the intentions and self-reflection, but am also happy that we have more and more own voices stories to choose from. Perhaps if this were written today, there would have been more opportunities for sensitivity reading to address some of the inevitable issues that other readers have raised.
2. I would love to know the reasoning behind having Auggie be a boy when the original experience was meeting a young girl. In the book, Auggie has an older sister, whose needs are not being met because those of her brother are so much larger. We still live in a culture where even under the best of circumstances sisters often end up feeling less important or noticed than their brothers and in Via's case it's been doubled down on and never resolved within the story. She finds inner resilience, but she does it on her own and off the page, even though we're given a section of the book told from her voice. It's a realistic scenario, that I know happens all the time, but given the overall themes of this book, leaving that unaddressed was strange to me. It feels like a missed opportunity not to explore those dynamics with the genders reversed. What would this story have been like if Auggie were a girl?
3. There might also be some missed opportunities for discussions on our depictions of disability and disfigurement in pop culture. Auggie's favourite movie is Star Wars and while the book makes note of those movies' use of disfigurement through some of the bullying Auggie experiences, it never touches on how Auggie himself feels about it. What would it be like to see all the characters who resemble you be depicted as evil? I was extra confused when Palacio had Auggie reading this part of one of the Narnia books: "There stood Peter and Edmund and all the rest of Aslan's army fighting desperately against the crowd of horrible creatures whom she had seen last night; only now, in the daylight, they looked even stranger and more evil and more deformed." And then Auggie has no thoughts about it. He just stops reading for the night and is worried about other things. Given the age this book is intended for, I'm not sure what we're supposed to take away from these scenes....more
Fun, witchy, urban fantasy! Chosen one trope revised for a decolonialist narrative.
The bulk of the book feels very much like a set-up for a classic tFun, witchy, urban fantasy! Chosen one trope revised for a decolonialist narrative.
The bulk of the book feels very much like a set-up for a classic trilogy with this book being the forming of the fellowship, or in this case, it's the collecting of the spoons. But there doesn't appear to be any hint of future books. Normally, this is a bonus for me as my preference is always for standalone pieces, but this book was all set-up and then a big whoosh of activity at the end....more
A collection of five short stories all pondering queer and non-monogamous relationships. In 'The Sociologist', Polak gives the most direct discussion A collection of five short stories all pondering queer and non-monogamous relationships. In 'The Sociologist', Polak gives the most direct discussion on this with the protagonist being an actual sociologist giving public talks on non-monagamy and 'debunking' love despite being disillusioned by their own advice. In 'No Petting', non-monogamy is contemplated through the protagonist's visit to the zoo, which sparks comparison between ourselves and other animals, freedom and society. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Darwin's personal life and his studies of evolution. 'Staying Isolde' similarly used the assumed monogamy of lobsters to contrast against a straight couple's foray into non-monogamy.
'What do want to know' was the least philosophical of the bunch with a fairly straightforward story of an older woman who's daughter refuses to acknowledge her partner. And similarly with the title story, 'The Dandy', which tells the story of the people behind a popular feminist magazine. I'm typically attracted to stories about fame, a little too much name-dropping for my taste, but the form of the story was intriguing (told through a journalistic perspective) and the messiness of the relationships was entertaining.
Quotes:
'The Dandy', p. 20 "It was what she'd always wanted: to be surrounded by smart, independent women who were having discussions about the state of the world, writers and artists sharing their work in her salon." [Yes, please. Sign me up]
'No Petting', p. 27 "In 1838, Charles Darwin visited London Zoo...To investigate his suspicion that there was a link between humans and apes---still a controversial idea at the time---the scientist climbed into the cage of a young female orangutan named Jenny...His findings convinced him that the differences between people and apes were only a matter of degree: they had common ancestors."
Part of the Verzet chapbook series from Strangers Press. ...more
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