Reading Poetry

I majored in English literature in college. I read hundreds and perhaps thousands of pages every week, ranging from Beowulf all the way through 21st century literature. I read authors like Hemingway, Beckett, Chaucer, and Austen.

So I would be a natural choice to read poetry, right?

Not so much.

It doesn't occur to me to pick up a poetry book the same way I make lists of novels to devour. But as I started to think about my reading habits in 2015, I decided to work poetry into my book rotation. I'm trying to keep it simple and low-stress, committing to read just one poem a day.

I don't want to be the reader who is intimidated by poetry anymore. I don't want to automatically assume that I won't get it, that there isn't the same kind of payoff from reading a book of poetry that I would get from reading a novel or biography.

So far, I've completed A Thousand Mornings, a book of poetry by Mary Oliver. I am now reading through The Poetry Of Our World, a collection of poems from 20th century poets across the world. I must confess that I had an easy entry into this book. The first poets were Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, both of whom I studied in a college class. Now I'm wading into new territory, with poets like Octavio Paz from Mexico and Anna Akhmatova of Russia.

I'm learning to read in new ways. I'm getting out of my comfort zone and discovering new writers who spin magic with their words.

Do you read poetry? Do you find it intimidating? Who are your favorite poets?

Mini-reviews: Castle Waiting, Volume II and The Sound of Music Story

I enjoyed the first volume of Castle Waiting so much that I immediately placed a hold on the second one. This time around, we spend more time in the castle itself, although we still get some backstory. Readers will learn more about Jain's childhood, her first love, and her relationship with her family. In the present, the castle receives some guests who are familiar to Henry and our favorite characters set out to explore some of the castle's deserted wings. One of my favorite things about this series of comics is how Linda Medley makes the castle itself seem like a character and that is wonderfully clear in this volume. 

I would be happy to read new issues of Castle Waiting for the next twenty years, but it seems that there are some disputes between Medley and her publisher. I hope they can work things out because I want to spend more time with Jain, Henry, the ladies in waiting, and all of the other inhabitants of Castle Waiting!


Castle Waiting, Volume II
By Linda Medley
Fantagraphics Books May 2013
472 pages
From the library

I'm just going to admit it. I am a huge fan of The Sound of Music. I love Julie Andrews and I adore every second of that movie.

When I saw that this book was available for review, I knew I would have to read it. Tom Santopietro takes you through every step of the making of this film. You learn about the process it took to get every single person involved, from the relatively untested stars to the costume designer. There is the perfect amount of backstage drama as we read about Christopher Plummer's disdain for this project and Andrew's frustration at being knocked over by the helicopter every time they tried to film the opening scene.

One of the most fascinating and wonderful things about reading this book is seeing the admiration and respect that everyone involved had for the other people working on the film. Santopietro follows everyone after the movie ends, analyzing why Andrew didn't have a slew of hits after this movie, what happened to the real Von Trapp family, and the rise of the The Sound of Music Sing-along.

This book may have the longest title ever, but the pages are chock full of behind-the-scenes stories and insight into how and why this musical about a nun, a captain, and a whole passel of children became one of the most beloved movies of all time. If you need me, I'll just be exposing my kids to the treasure that is Julie Andrews.


The Sound of Music Story: How One Young Nun, One Handsome Austrian Captain, and Seven Singing Von Trapp Children Inspired the Most-Loved Film of All Time
By Tom Santopietro
St. Martin's Press February 2015
336 pages
Read via Netgalley

Review: West of Sunset

West of Sunset

By Stewart O'Nan

Viking January 2015

304 pages

From the library

In the late 1930s, F. Scott Fitzgerald found himself at a dead end. His beloved wife Zelda had been institutionalized and his once thriving literary career seemed to be at a standstill. In a desperate effort to bring in some money, he becomes a screenwriter for MGM. The glamour of Hollywood is a stark contrast to Fitzgerald's life as he fights between his feelings for gossip columnist Sheila Graham and devotion to his wife and is defeated time and time again by illness and alcoholism. In West of Sunset, Stewart O'Nan takes readers into the last three difficult years of Fitzgerald's life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors ever and Stewart O'Nan is a contemporary author I greatly admire. When I read that O'Nan was writing historical fiction about Fitzgerald, it seemed as if I was being granted a literary gift. 

It is obvious that O'Nan has done a lot of research for this book. Fitzgerald's last years were not easy for him or for those around him. Although the lights of Hollywood grace the book's cover and were inescapable for Fitzgerald himself, this book is very dark. Our hero is a broken man who sees himself as a failure in his work. He can't support his family the way he would like to, he loves Sheila but berates himself for betraying his wife, and he can't overcome his demons. This story doesn't grab you from the offset, but instead pulls you deep into the depression that Scott is experiencing page by page, day by day. 

Fitzgerald expected the work in Hollywood to be easy and he is dismayed when his ideas are cast aside, the studio heads pass the projects on to other writers, and his credit is claimed by others. In those last years of his life, he also worked on a Hollywood-based book - The Last Tycoon. Sadly, Fitzgerald never had the chance to complete it. 

It is difficult for us as readers to make this version of Fitzgerald fit with the famous, carefree F. Scott who famously jumped into fountains with his wife and was the life of the party. But darkness is a common thread through his work and was a constant presence in the lives of Scott and Zelda, threatening them with poverty, insanity, and dying without being appreciated as a writer. Stewart O'Nan has carefully captured one of our most beloved writers in his most difficult moments. 

It's Monday - Did you join the Flash Readathon?

Hey there. How are you doing?

I was excited to see that Monika. Heather, and Andi organized a spur of the moment readathon this weekend. I decided I should join in and managed to read two more books this weekend. Hooray!

Read Last Week:
                                
Vanessa And Her Sister                                   The Thing Around Your Neck
By Priya Parmar                                                By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


Flash Readathon books:
                                    
After Birth                                                               The Arm of the Starfish
By Elisa Albert                                                        By Madeleine L'Engle


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
February Wrap-Up
Reviews of Girl Before a Mirror and Every Valley


This Week's Reading
                             
The Legacy of Lost Things                            Daring Greatly
By Aida Zilelian                                               By Brene Brown


What are you reading this week?

Review: Every Valley

Every Valley: Advent with the Scriptures of Handel's Messiah

Compiled by Jessica Miller Kelly

Westminster John Knox Press September 2014

160 pages

Read via Netgalley

Many people associate Christmas with beloved songs. Perhaps best-known is Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Fewer people know that the chorus is a part of a much larger work that explores the life and impact of Jesus through the Scriptures. In Every Valley, readers get a devotion for each day that combines the wisdom of Scripture, the beauty of music, and a new way of thinking about the season of the birth of Christ.


Advent tends to be an under-served season in the Christian calendar. Everyone loves Christmas, but fewer people observe the weeks prior as we wait for Christ's arrival. The lyrics of Messiah are taken directly from Scripture, so each day starts with a passage from Handel's masterpiece, then supplies the verses it is based on, and guides the reader to a deeper understanding of the longing that the Jewish people had for the Messiah's coming or the impact of Christ's life.


The devotions themselves have been compiled from the Feasting on the Word series and are broken into three sections: Christ's Birth and Foretelling, Christ's Passion and Resurrection, and Christ's Eternal Reign. The words are meant to make you think deeper and reflect about your life and your faith. It avoids the frequent pitfall of devotionals, where everything must end on a chipper note. Instead, the devotions engage the uncertainty of waiting for a messiah and the grief experienced when it seemed that all was lost after the Crucifixion.


Every Valley is the perfect read both for musicians who have performed selections from the Messiah every year and casual listeners who only recognize the Hallelujah Chorus. The insights shared about the composer and the music itself will deepen the knowledge of Handel aficionados and give newbies insight into why the music and these sacred texts work so well together.


I think the best way to enjoy this devotional would be to read it in conjunction with the music. If you are reading Every Valley, listening to each section of music referenced and then reading that selection will give you a renewed and deeper appreciation for both the season of Advent and the gorgeous music of Handel's Messiah. 

Review: Girl Before a Mirror

Girl Before a Mirror

By Liza Palmer

William Morrow January 2015

384 pages

From the publisher

Anna Wyatt is doing some personal rearranging. After her divorce, she takes a dating sabbatical and decides to focus on her job as an advertising executive. If she can hook a big new pharmaceutical client, maybe she can finally nab a promotion and some respect. When she finds the company's long-forgotten shower gel, she knows that this is the way in. But her ordered life takes a turn when she schemes to make the winner of the Romance Cover Model of the Year pageant their new spokesman. The business-minded Anna finds herself swayed by the notion of having some fun, making new friends, and maybe even experiencing a little romance herself.

I'm a bit of a book snob. There, I said it. If something looks like it might be a romance novel or perhaps it could be categorized as "chick lit," I usually keep my distance and plant my flag firmly in the "literary fiction" camp. But this book showed up in my mailbox and I had seen so many bloggers rave about Liza Palmer. I decided to give it a try.

The cover seems pretty...girly, right? I knew I would be frustrated if this book turned out to be all about the perfect pair of shoes and impressing the guy. I didn't need to worry. As the book opens,  Anna is taking slow steps to being confident in her talent and in her choices. She is fighting to be recognized in a a male-dominated industry and is aggravated by the assumption that she can only market "women's things" until she has the realization that women are the ones doing a majority of the buying for their households. Women are the market.


Anna is also finding the freedom to pursue relationships in her own way. When a beautiful new art director is placed on the shower gel account with her, Anna's first reaction is to feel threatened by Sasha's youth and good looks. But the two women find that they can support each other instead of climbing over each to reach the top. Even the romance (and yes, there is of course a romance) is about progressing slowly and recognizing the pain and disappointment that both Anna and Lincoln have experienced with relationships.


Many women find it difficult to rest and to take time to do things that are just fun - pastimes that don't better their homes, their careers, or their families. Anna begins the novel with a condescending attitude towards the women who enjoy the frivolity of romance novels. But she (and maybe, just maybe this reader) begin to see the error of their ways. There is a beautiful moment during the Romance Novel convention where Anna looks around the room and just sees women letting loose. They are snacking, dancing, and enjoying the company of new and old friends without fear of looking silly or the thought that they should be doing something productive. Why is having fun and enjoying something, whether it's a cupcake, a romance novel, or a crazy dance party, a moment to feel guilty?


"Somewhere along the line--probably in the septic tank that was my adolescence--I stopped believing I was the hero of my own story. Or that my story was worthy of a hero at all. I settled because that's all I thought I deserved...Moderation in everything and when I did allow myself to indulge--whether on a big meal or an expensive piece of clothing--the guilt that set in within seconds made it never worth it in the end. In choosing to be good, cautious, and efficient, I talked myself right out of amazing."


It's really wonderful to find a read that simultaneously makes you laugh and think long and hard about the way you treat the people in your life and the way you treat yourself.  I will decidedly be reading more of Liza Palmer's books. 

February Wrap-Up

Bye February! Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!

I am so done with winter and ready for spring. It feels like it snowed in NJ just about every weekend, which meant my first grader had a delay or a day off just about every Monday. I'm tired of cold feet, bundling up kids, and salting steps. Sunshine and sandals, please come soon!

On the reading front, February was pretty good. I'm hard pressed to mention any book I didn't like (well, maybe The Sun Also Rises, which you can read about here). I had a blast participating in Comics February and raced through three really great graphic novels. I read some mysteries, featuring two of my favorite female sleuths and wondered where all of the elderly protagonists are in literature (especially because they are so great to read about!).


    

    

Books reviewed in February: 9
Pages read: 3,232
Fiction/non-fiction: 7/2
Male authors/female authors/multiple authors: 2/4/3
My books/library books/books for review: 1/4/4
Most-read February review: Lost and Found & Etta and Otto and Russell and James 
Favorite February read: This is a hard question this month. Take your pick!


What was the best book you read in February?