2023 book list
3 book clubs for the fiction .... 1 MFA program for poetry and writing craft books.
1. matthew perry memoir (th bookclub, january) .... i listened to this during walks ... he read it himself .... he def sounds like chandler...... he is definitely a drug addict and alcoholic. some of the story is already public but his self examination is all new...... i am left wondering if because of all the drugs he is an unreliable narrator of his own story. his parents seem to be saints. i'm afraid he is going to die young, either from the wreckage he has wrought on his body or by a recurrence of negative addictive behaviors. the most surprising to me was his sprituality. is his god, the god of AA or someone/thing else?
2. we all want impossible things by catherine newman (original bookclub, january, kb) excellent!! ... death and hospice and affairs and friendships and so much to unwrap.... all done beautifully.
3. a good cry by nikki giovanni .... beautiful, accessible poetry by a brilliant poet. (for MFA program)
4. daughters of sparta by claire andrews ... i adore greek mythology. i bought a bunch of modern updated versions of greek myth books for my kids for xmas. and i bought this one for myself on kindle.
5. foster by claire keegan (w bookclub, january, kj) ... very well written .... very short ... left me wanting more ..... about the family she moved into and the family she came from .... especially those sisters left behind. the most interesting part about it was talking to mm about it ... and hearing how she related to it. well worth reading.
6. sweet, soft, plenty rhythm by laura warrell. i heard laura speak (twice) at my mfa residency in early january. her reading some chapters made me know i'd like the book. layered stories about the women in one man's life. well done. (for MFA program)
7. lessons in chemistry by bonnie garmus ... super trendy book right now. i enjoyed the main character and her daughter. i liked the sorting out of story lines at the end. i did not love the reexplaining of sexism and misogyny in the workplace over and over. yes. we know. would be a good book club book though i did not read it for that.... i bet one of mine picks it eventually! haha
8. lore olympus volume 1 by rachel smythe..... i gave this book to so for xmas .... she read it, bought the next two in the series, read them, said i must read them, and left back to school. excellent greek mythology graphic novel
9. lore olympus volume 2 by rachel smythe.
10. lore olympus volume 3 by rachel smythe.
11. Crossan, Sarah. Here is the Beehive. ... omg I LOVED THIS. novel in verse, best i've ever read. the story was adult, not sure why most verse novels are YA.... but his one was a rich, compelling story about love and adultery and grieving ... psychological drama .... a tiny bit crazy. excellent. (for MFA program)SO GOOD. READ THIS if you are here browsing for an idea
12. Sarah, Crossan, One .... i read it ... again... third or fourth time ... this time because the beehive book above was worthy of writing a paper about for grad school... so i reread this one for some ideas.... to sort the differences in my head. (for MFA program)
13 . Mary Oliver's Dog Songs ... cause who doesn't want to read poetry about dogs? (for MFA program)
14. Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook.... mary's only prose book..... it was fine ... i def learned some stuff.. but it wasn't life changing or anything. solid. (for MFA program)
15 Alice Hoffman's the museum of extraordinary things..... i loved this .... weird mermaid girl and a coney island freak show ... a tragic fire, a photographer ..... trying to make life make sense. beautiful.
16 A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit. i read a quote from her (i can't find it now) in an MFA reading and impulsively bought this book (on audible because i had a credit). What a gorgeous book to listen to. the writing is ethereal, whimsical, beautiful. i likely should buy the book and read it to get the full meaning. the things that stuck with me were the author's eloquence about the natural world and how it relates to her own interior life. i likely gloss over my interior world as i storyteller narrate my day to day. truly a beautiful book. (for MFA program)
17. Juno Dawson's Her Majesty's Royal Coven .... witch book in UK .... good world building ..... i really liked the characters in particular. it has a tender portrayal of a trans kid/witch ..... lots off goodness in old relationships, new relationships, parent/child relationships..... and a little bit of chao/witch war. perfect book for me.
18. piranesi by susanna clark . LOVE. i've been enjoying new takes on greek mythology. this one was EXCELLENT. loved it.... was about the labyrinth of ancient greece in modern times. so clever ... took me a bit to really understand. loved the mystery of it.
19 my evil mother by margaret atwood. well you know it is going to be good when it is margaret atwood! it's a short story i borrowed on kindle, which is a new thing maybe? not sure it belongs on a book list, but this is where i keep track of things so here it will go. the question: is my mother a witch? a book about the ever pertinent theme of mother daughter relationships
the above were all finished prior to feb. 3! haha. i had eye surgery and ONLY have close vision. i can't drive at all or watch tv very well... so loads of reading... lots of listening to book with my eyes shut.
20.the southern book club's guide to slaying vampires by grady hendrix.. repeat read cause it's funny .... for th book club.
21.Brown, Jericho. The Tradition. (for MFA program) omg. beautiful, powerful, wonderful. JB came to my kids' high school once and i crashed the assembly to hear him read.... before he won his Pulitzer prize.... he was extraordinary.... as is this book. i've extra enjoyed it doing some close studies for my MFA work.
22.Chang, Victoria. Love, Love. (for MFA program) fantastic! a verse novel for YA readers (which should include all of us, YA is SO good) the poetry of it was fantastic ... but truthfully it was just a well done story and the poetry just made it better. definitely a book you should read if you aren't sure about poetry .... you'll just read it as a novel. themes of fitting in, immigrants, sisters, friends, mental health.
23.Gay, Ross. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. (for MFA program) i recently saw Ross Gay on a zoom where he was doing readings and being inteviewed ... and he is a beautiful, serene, gentle speaker. i loved learning from him SO much. and his book is awesome. unabashed gratitude: what a perfect title.
24. Rakoff, David. Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish. (for MFA program)so. i have been reading loads of verse novels, or trying to. some are strong on story, short on poetry. some are so compelling as a novel that the poetry is incidental. some have poetry that pushes the novel to new levels of goodness..... and this one ... rhymed. i was so surprised. for context, the iliad, novel in verse, does not rhyme. the rime of the ancient mariner, does rhyme. i don't think any of the books i've been reading as novels in verse examples rhyme. so. surprise. this book is weird and wonderful and quirky ... and sometimes the rhyme and poetry of it messed me up. the poem was not always at service to the story. but the story maybe was at service to the poem. so the opposite of mostly what i've been reading. upside: super funny. quirk, weird. i loved it so much while reading it that late at night i put it down so i wouldn't finish it ... and googled the author to see what else i could read .... and he's dead. i was so sad. here i was falling in love with him and he's already dead. hopefully he's in some other plane and knows i'm thinking about him and learning from his book.
25. Still Life by Louise Penny ((w bookclub, feb, fh) on my kindle. already had it but never read it before! lots of friends have recommended it over the years, not sure why i never got to it, except that i definitely have a problem of obtaining more books than i can actually read.
the above were all finished prior to feb.11
26. Lindenberg, Rebecca. Love, an Index. McSweeney's, 2012. (for MFA program) This book gutted me. What a horrifying premise to lose her love in such a traumatic, mysterious way. How brave to be able to share herself through poetry after such a loss.
27. Elliott, David. Bull. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. (for MFA program) learned a ton from this book, even though of the novels in verse so far, it was the least compelling. It was not a page turner for me. As I have thought about it and digested it, I wish I had loved it more. The story was one I knew, but like all the on trend books retelling the great Greek myths, Bull fills in gaps in the original story, or at least the gaps that have opened over the centuries. Perhaps long ago, their were tales of the minotaurs childhood. The most intriguing part of this book to me was the poetic form. Each poem was by, on, about a specific character. Each character had their own form. Asterion was my favorite, zigzagging across the page. Daedalus was easily recognizable as four line stanzas. I thought it was a quirky brilliant approach to the poetry.
28. Baer, Kate. I Hope This Finds You Well. Harper Perennial, 2021. (for MFA program) Great book. I loved reading the letters and emails to Baer, as well as the other found words in prose she's chosen. Having the unerased prose for comparison was interesting. The erasure poetry she made from it is excellent. Her style is mostly sparse and sharp. The whole thing is a beautiful feminist documentation.
29. Hafiz. I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy by Hafiz. Translated by Daniel Ladinsky. Penguin, 1996. (for MFA program) I've read this book before. It reads like comfort food to me. Soothing…. but it is also profound. Hafiz is from the 13hundreds. I am mind blown by the universality of the poetry in spite of how old the writing is. If I think too hard about it I start wondering about the translator, or each translator over the centuries, and what has changed. Even if the translation has changed it over time, still I am touched by what read as glorious then, still does now. That Hafiz even had a notion of a laughing god is beautiful to me.
30. Hilborn, Neil. Our Numbered Days. Button Poetry, 2015.
31. Hilborn, Neil. The Future. Button Poetry, 2017. (for MFA program) I just love this poet. I watch him on YouTube and have seen him in person. I've read both of his books multiple times. I'm always touched by his emotional vulnerability. His neurodiversity seems like a superpower while simultaneously revealing so much more vulnerability that most writers put forth.
32. Halse Anderson, Laurie . Shout. Penguin Books, 2020. (for MFA program) This is the most powerful novel in verse I have read to date. It is a memoir with themes of rape and mental health. The book pointedly speaks of the people and institutions that have blinders on in regards to rape, bullying, and misogyny…. all that and the poetry is spectacular.
33. the book woman of troublesome creek by kim michelle richardson (MBH, tuesday book club) i've read it before... reread for this .... good discussion
34. untamed: the wildest woman in america and the fight for cumberland island by will harlan (w book club, march, ks) ... i've read this before, i think for another book club? but it was good so i reread.... an excellent book genre: strong, intriguing women
35. nothing to see here by kevin wilson ... SO GOOD. READ THIS if you are here browsing for an idea... omg. laugh out loud funny ... and bitter sweet sad and weird. i adored this book. don't read the blurbs, read the book and be surprised.
36. remarkably bright creatures by shelby van pelt .... SO GOOD. READ THIS if you are here browsing for an idea... oh an octopus that's brilliant .. and the people that cross his path that are doing their best to figure out life. GREAT book
37.the mystwyck school of musicraft by jessica khoury ... i listened to this book and it was astonishing because the recording was FULL of the magical music.... a wizard book.
38. the music coming from the house by paulo coehlo ... i love this author ... this was an hour and a half listen ... but christmas in march. haha. i thought if i waited to read it seasonally i might not ever remember to come back around to it.
39. Solnit, Rebecca. Men Explain Things to Me. Granta, 2014. (for MFA program)Essays on the historic and current silencing of women's voices. This writer is an exemplar at her craft. The whole book reads as just so smart. The topic is hard, but I nodded my way through it, knowing the truth she speaks.
40. keeper of enchanted rooms by charlie n. holmberg. magic. wizards. an enchanted house that made me think of the book mexican gothic, only this house is not nearly as creepy.... a little bit of everything, magic, intrigue, mystery, romance. lovely escape.
all of these above here were read before 3.22.2023
41. secret lives of church ladies (bookclub, tuesday, LS) .... a collection of short stories.... we are a novel group and this didn't go over well , although there were some good themes to discuss..... most everyone in the book who is tightly tied to the church is also low on ethics and goodness.
42. little women by louisa may alcott. a bunch of LMA books were on sale on chirp .... and they felt like they might be a pleasant comfort diversion. i love jo. i've never read the unabridged versions of the others, just my child's library shortened ... so i'm looking forward to knowing the whole stories.
43.Atkins, Cynthia. Still-Live With God. St. Julia Press, 2020. (for MFA program) read this book of poetry on airplanes with a highlighter, a pen and a little notebook I keep for poetry ideas. I wrote down about a million ideas. This poet uses an absurd to me amount of metaphors and similes ….. and frequently hers would make me think of nuggets of my own. I wonder if I'll go back to these ideas and wonder what I meant. God is the Butter Dish. God is the Medicine Cabinet. Her God poems were far and away her best titles.
44.Creech, Sharon. Love That Dog. Harper Trophy, 2001. (for MFA program) Love That Dog is a beautifully done novel in verse for children.
45.Chang, Victoria. The Trees Witness Everything. Copper Canyon Press, 2022. (for MFA program) took me longer than I'd like to admit to connect the dots: this brilliant poet also wrote the YA novel in verse from a few packets ago, Love, Love. Now that I know, it makes perfect sense. https://youtu.be/9SES3d2v9g0 ←- after reading some poems, I looked for her reading them and was rewarded with this short video.
46.Cameron, Julia. The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Tarcher/Putnam, 2002. (for MFA program) reread for me. I belong to some facebook groups surrounding the practice of TAW. I get something different out of it with rereads. Or I find what I'm looking for or needing.
47.Addonizio, Kim and Laux, Dorianne. The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry. W.W. Norton and Company, 1997. (for MFA program) book will be the one I go back to in the future when I'm trying to hit a refresh. It covers all the bases on poetry themes and forms.
48.Nordby, Jacob. Blessed Are the Weird: A Manifesto for Creatives. Manifesto Publishing House, 2016. (for MFA program) I adore this book. I am a bit quirky, weird amongst the people who populate my life. This book makes me feel seen!
49.Wallen, Amy. How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies: Sweet and Savory Tips for the Writing Life..Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2022. (for MFA program)This book has solid novel plotting advice couched in a conversational cookbook with quirky illustrations.
50. Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X. Quill Tree Books, 2018. (for MFA program) fantastic book! a reread, and again/still awesome. A classic coming of age story. This type of brilliant book that marries great story telling and poetry is the reason why I hold onto the idea of a novel in verse.SO GOOD. READ THIS if you are here browsing for an idea
51. Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson. second in series... back in troublesome creek area.... misogyny, racism, historical fiction in kentucky .... saving people with books.
52. lady chatterly's lover buy DH Lawrence (SB, book club, w, april).... i didn't love rereading this book that i read in college.... but i didn't hate it .... and it led to good discussions
53. the german girl by armando lucas correa (JK, bookclub, may, w) excellent historical fiction ... i love new to me info about history ..... this WW2 book has a large focus on cuba. what a surprise. great book.SO GOOD. READ THIS if you are here browsing for an idea
54. the hobbit by j.r.r tolkien. this was just a couple dollars to get the audio version on chirp. really loved listening to it.
56. little men by louisa may alcott
57. good wives by louisa may alcott
i read these three , and little women listed higher on this page, while i was training for my camino walk. lots of walking. lots of book listening. i'd read these all as a kid. but it was easy to listen to them during training walks .... and not worry too much if i daydreamed and missed a bit here and there.
58.edge of collapse
59.edge of madness
60.edge of darkness
61. edge of anarchy
62. edge of defiance
63. edge of survival
64. edge of valor .... all 7 by kyla stone ... a post apocalyptic series.... pretty intense..... i'd started it a while ago .... and started over for training walks .... and then i listened to them on airplanes and in the middle of the night trying not to get out of bed with jet lag/insomnia/illness. i had some stuff going on. but nothing so bad as an apocalypse. haha.
65. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin. OMG. i loved this. truthfully, it seems like a coming of age story to me ... but the blurbs and reviews talk about it as a techy sort of book .... young coders writing games .... there are complex characters growing up together, starting a business together, being heartbroken together. love. SO GOOD. READ THIS if you are here browsing for an idea
everything above this was finished before the end of april 2023.
66. wish you were here by jodi picoult. i love art and art history and galleries. i love the galapagos and have been. i went through this thing called the pandemic. all of those things are bits of this book. i LOVED this book. i usually like j picoult books a lot ... this one is a favorite. really thought it was fantastic. bookclub
67. after you by jojo moyes is the sequel to me before you..... nice next step for louisa after the harrowing first book. i always like jojo moyes.
68. still me by jojo moyes.. #3 (i love her other books i have read) ... this might be my favorite book of louisa clark getting her act together....
69.Acevedo, Elizabeth. Clap When You Land. Quill Tree Books, 2022.I am completely in love with everything about this book. The story, the poetry, the plot, the character developent, the slow unfolding like a gift, the moral ambiguity of the father who everyone decides to love regardless, the underrepresented in novel young girls who might read it, the brain and beauty of the author. So I read it twice. (for MFA program)
70. until the end of the world , book 1 by sarah lyons fleming
71. and after (until the end of the world, book 2 by sarah lyons fleming
72 all the stars in the sky book 3 or until the end of the world series by sarah lyons fleming
73. so long lollipops book 4 novella for the end of the world series by sarah lyons fleming... i LOVED these four books. i find it embarrassing just how much i love apocalyptic books! this one was pandemic and zombies and fighting and running. the best thing about the whole series was the character development .... i really loved many of the characters.
74. horse by geraldine brooks (MM, bookclub, june, w).... great book club book .... interesting story ... lots to discuss
75. the forest of vanishing stars by kristen harmel .... ww2. completely unique and weird twist to the world war 2 genre.
76. to love a witch by debora geary. weirdly, it just showed up on my kindle. did i buy it on my kindle? i usually buy from my computer and i know i didn't buy it there. was there an ad for it i clicked on inadvertently. anyway, i've read more than a dozen books by this author. a whole witch series i enjoy .... and here's one i hadn't read. kind of witchy that i don't know how i happened upon it.... but was happy to revisit this world.
77. the wolf witch by chandelle lavaun. .... a crossover from CL's coven series. i love this author. light, fun, witchy books.
78. fourth wing by rebecca yarros! omg, i loved this. dragons! world building! coming of age story with female main character. when i finished it, i just started it all over again. i imagine this will be a movie one day .... it should be. super exciting. great book.
79. the impossible us by sarah lots. i love an epistolatory novel... especially falling in love by letter... and then this one's modern update of novel by email. it started out charming and quirky .... and then a mad twist. i just love this sort of creative book.
80. everything must go by camille pagan... well. this one hit close to home with an aging parent with dementia and how the rest of the family manages that. i listened to it and thought the audio version was super....
81Clifton, Lucille. Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. BOA Editions, 200. (for MFA program)
82. Clifton,. Lucille. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010. Edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser, BOA Editions, 2012.I'm kind of mad that I've never read Lucille Clifton before. She's amazing. She's prolific. She seems pretty universal too. I love her solid convention of nearly zero capital letters. I love the solid, consistent look of her poems. I love her voice, what she says, how she says it. (for MFA program)
83. Baker, Quentin. ballast. Haymarket Books, 2023. What an astonishing book. I'm astonished that Baker had the wherewithal to find the senate documents about the Creole ship's slave revolt and then do something so amazing with it. The art and the poetry of it is wonderful, but equally, the social justice push of it is so important. I'm really just in awe of this poet/writer/artist. (for MFA program)
84. Sperry Steinorth, Jennifer. A Graphic Poem (Con[text]ual). Texas Review Press, 2021.What a gorgeous book. I think this author is more poet than artist, yet the book is a work of art. The poetry is the focus. A brilliant idea is the basis: JSS took an old school misogynistic art history text (*i* majored in art history 100 years ago) and essentially erased the erasure of women. What a gorgeous idea. So well done. (for MFA program)
85. Ruefle, Mary. A Little White Shadow. Wave Books, 2006. the artist author poet used white out to alter the original book. just stunning. i want to be an artist, author, poet all at once. (for MFA program)
books above here were all finished by july 4. and aren't in order that i read them... i only remembered to put in the MFA books after the others.
86. Ernaux, Annie. Simple Passion. Translated by Tanya Leslie, Seven Stories Press, 2003.this book was amazing. simple passion is translated from french, the author is most revered with multiple astonishing awards (nobel prize), and full of total vulnerability. this book is not in standard form. it has a look of being mildly prose poem … it is quite informal with footnotes that directly address the reader. the writer/memoirist spends TWO YEARS obsessed with a lover and writes about it. if you felt like she did, you would not have told anyone! (for MFA program) great book.
87.Hauser, Chachi D. It's Fun to Be a Person I Don't Know.....i read the first half of this before hearing chachi speak at vcfa …. and finished it a couple weeks later …. i loved it. she is roy disney's grand daughter... it is a memoir of her not disney polished life. (for MFA program)
88.Hunt, Samantha. Mr. Splitfoot. i listened to this as an audiobook while exercising (and to be honest, while folding laundry, doing dishes, and working in my pottery studio )... i loved hearing the author at vcfa, her reading was engaging but her personality was fun, funny, intriguing at her lesson/q and a…. this book, mr. splitfoot, was weird and quirky… a horror, a ghost story, a gothic novel (for MFA program)
89. Bell, Matt. Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts. i have a writing group that chose this book for our august discussion. i think my word for it is charming. the book is easy to read, conversational even. (for MFA program)
90. González, Ray, editor. No Boundaries: Prose Poems by 24 American Poets. some great poets! (for MFA program)
91, Ullman, Leslie. Library of Small Happiness. yay!....reads so lyrically and beautiful… like a poem that's a prose book about finding poems inside of yourself. (for MFA program)
92. Hall, Donald. Claims for Poetry. ....i did not read every essay. i TRIED to read them all … but some just couldn't keep me. some however, were extraordinary essays that made me think and stretch my brain and marvel at the myriad ways we poets approach poetry. the whole idea of the book is a marvel. it's like a bouquet of poets. (for MFA program)
93. oranges are not the only fruit by jeannette winterson ... a memoir .... really well done .... weird and quirky (for MFA program)
94. the prince and the troll by rainbow rowell (i've read lots of her books) .... a short story fairy tale set in modern times.... quite good.
95. girls with bright futures by tracy dobmeier. rich prep school kids' moms acting crazy and fighting over whose kid gets to go to stanford.
96... the poet's corner edited by john lithgow .... an audible of some famous people reading good poetry. so relaxing. i loved it.
97. slave warrior queen by morgan rice. world building. good story. i just hated the mother so much that it was distracting. i enjoyed the story though.
98. the book of two ways ... jodi picoult ... saw this one on sale as audio ... had never heard of it but really enjoy the author ..... ancient archeology, a plane crash, a death doula .... lots of unexpected layers (as always for picoult) ..... writing about it now, i especially appreciate the title... what about the life we could have lived? that fork in the road? great book.
99. slammed by Colleen Hoover.... colleen hoover just came on my radar last year with big best seller verity ...... and i had trouble understanding how i'd missed out on hearing about her/reading her TONS of books that seem well received. well. i didn't miss her. i just didn't make the connection. i read slammed YEARS ago and loved it..... so when i figure out it was the person who is now crazy famous, i decided to see if i still loved this book. i do. what's not to love about slam poetry romances.
100. mad honey by jodi picoult. GREAT BOOK (CB, bookclub, august, t) the bee lady has some problems... plot twists like you can't believe.
101. appleseed by matt bell..... i read the matt bell book refuse to be done .... a writer's craft book ... and wanted to read his novel.... luckily i'm a post apocalyptic sci fi fan. it was weird. super well done. not for everyone, great for me.
102. i read a book i am not proud of having read. if i valued my time more i would not have finished it.... but it was smutty and i wanted to see what the happily ever after looked like. haha. (note to self p by s m)
103. when women were dragons by kelly barn hill. i like dragon books. not the best one ever, but good escapist story. nice world building.
104.winter world
105.the solar war
106.the lost colony
all by a.g. riddle .... post apocalyptic sci fi .... i really appreciated the characters and character growth ... the plot was kind of normal post apocalyptic ....but i really loved them ...
107. that summer by jennifer weiner ..... daisy and diane and not accidentally meeting . i like jw's books ... this one wasn't the greatest but certainly did well keeping me company on long walks.
108. rogue, prisoner, princess by morgan rice
109. slave, warrior, queen by morgan rice
fantasy books, audio, got on the cheap from chirp. love a powerful heroine main character
110. iron flame by rebecca yarros ... number two in the series .... i hope you've read fourth wing already..... fantasy excellence.... great world building ... nuanced characters.... good story ..... and dragons. i like dragon stories, especially when they are main characters. great
111. you could make this place beautiful by maggie smith (the poet) a memoir ... the BEST ... my fave book of the year .... beautiful, vulnerable story of self. exquisite writing.
112. the snow child by eowyn ivey ..... wedn. book club for christmas...... a beautiful fable.... great discussion .... still mysterious when done reading it....
113. the book club hotel by sarah morgan ... christmas read for tues bookclub ..... light and charming and enough characters to make the discussion worthwhile as we dissected everyone's background and motivations
114. to love a witch by debora geary ... a novel nibble ... i love this witch book author .... and she hasn't written for ages .... so i found this tidbit i hadn't read yet when i was trying to figure out why she wasn't writing anymore .... (divorce ... still writing ... pseudonym)
115.Acevedo, Elizabeth. Family Lore: A Novel. HarperCollins Publishers, 2023..(for MFA program) .... i ADORE e acevedo ... this is, i think, her first adult fiction, and not my favorite ... i love her poetry , especially beast girl .... and i've loved her YA novels ... esp. poet x novel in verse..... i probs need to reread family lore and see if my own mindset was the problem and not the book... haha. i had a rough fall.
116. Whitman, Walt. Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself. Illustrated by Allen Crawford, WW Norton, 2014.(for MFA program) .... OMG gorgeous illustrated book. adore
117.Seth, Vikram. The Golden Gate. Random House, 1986..(for MFA program) ..
118.Cron, Lisa. Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere). Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed, 2016..(for MFA program) ...
119. Whitman, Walt. Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself. Illustrated by Allen Crawford, WW Norton, 2014.(for MFA program) ..
120. Bass, Ellen. Mules of Love. BOA Editions, 2002.(for MFA program) this is me going back to old faithful poets .... a favorite i wanted to revisit for comfort.
121. Creeley, Robert. The Collected Poems of Robert Creeley, 1975-2005. University of California Press; First Edition, 2008.(for MFA program) suggested by my advisor ... vast collection .... some stunning .... not as exciting to me as modern poets
122. Gablik, Suzi. Magritte. New York Graphic Society, 1970. (for MFA program).. rec by my advisor .... relating visual art to the written arts.
123. Gay, Ross. Be Holding: A Poem. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020.(for MFA program) i love this writer .... i was lucky enough to see/hear him at life is a verb camp in october..... inspirational essayist ... beautiful poet ... and this is a novel in verse ... super smart and interesting.
124. Kaur, Rupi. Milk and Honey. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2015. (for MFA program)
125. Kaur, Rupi. The Sun and Her Flowers.. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2017 (for MFA program)
... revisiting old favorites
... ...
126. Kaminsky, Ilya. Deaf Republic. Faber & Faber, 2019.(for MFA program) i had the good luck to see ilya read/speak at LIAV camp ..... his poetry is powerful. seems even more significant in light of current wars.
127. Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Emily Wilson, W. W. Norton, Incorporated, 2023. (for MFA program)
128, Homer. The Odyssey. Edited by Emily Wilson, translated by Emily Wilson, WW Norton, 2018. (for MFA program) Reynolds, Jason. Long Way Down. Atheneum. 2017.
yay! new translations that are easier to read ... loved getting back in touch with old fashioned homer after reading a bunch of novels re-visioning greek mythology
129. Reynolds, Jason. Long Way Down. Atheneum. 2017. (for MFA program) this is the best novel in verse i've read in my studies .... it is spectacularly well done .... the poetry, the plot, the tension, the characters .... even the art work (which took me TOO long to figure out) ..... fantastic book.
130. today in the taxi by sean singer .... gorgeous novel in verse ... i have read it twice in a row ... once to love it, once to learn things. LOVE ... (for MFA program)
TBR :
grad school:
kindle :alpha , audrey faye (debora geary's pen name)
audio:
book club book:
ORIGINAL BOOK CLUB tuesday
we all want impossible things by catherine newman (orig. jan, kb)
the book woman of troublesome creek by kim michelle richardson (original bookclub, february, mb) have it on kindle. first read in 2019.
march (LS) secret lives of church ladies...
april book woman's daughter (JH)
may (TM) wish you were here jodi picoult
june the forest of vanishing stars by kristen harmel (jp) ... i read this then book was switched to HORSE
july
august, CB , jodie p. mad honey
sept SB
oct EB family lore, elizabeth acevedo
dec KB
WEDN. BOOK CLUB
foster by claire keegan (w book club, january, kj) still life by louise penny (w book club, feb. fh)
Still Life by Louise Penny (on kindle).. feb, fh
untamed: the wildest woman in america and the fight for cumberland island by will harlan (w book club, march, ks) (on kindle)
april ... lady chatterly's lover (SB, book club, w, april)
may the german girl by armando lucas correa (JK, bookclub, may, w)
june horse by geraldine brooks (MM, bookclub, june, w)
july
august
september, eb, remarkably bright creature
TH. BOOK CLUB
matthew perry memoir (jm, th book club, january)
second marriage by maggie o'farrel (ap, th, feb... can't go.... might not read)
march the southern book club's guide to slaying vampires by grady hendrix (mp, th, march) will be a reread for me.
april small things like these (TP) (have not read yet. on kindle.then add to list)
may ... lessons in chemistry by bonnie garmus (may, th bookclub, jr)
june
july
augusst
sept, eb mad honey
oct.
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