Nice!

A Kristin Hatch poem. Within the book there is a set of poems about working in a restaurant. Here is one of them. Hunger Haven in the walk-in, everything is honest & stacked in well-marked tubs. you can think about a bath of cold noodles or death. they say, years ago, before i was here, an old lady was eating soup by the window & then she just died quiet & they found her still at closing. on good days, when it smells like green beans here, i think of her like a lullaby & our work, our good work, is wholesome. in the walk-in it smells young like all the things you haven't done yet. the guy at table sixteen calls himself a regular, but everyone here eye-rolls. he calls you by name & says it a lot. the consonants ping-pong on his teeth & the vowels are swear words he likes saying. one time he told tanya to call him uncle eddie, but his credit card says sam. in the walk-in, your arms cross in front of you for fake winter. you can sometimes sit on an empty upside-down tofu bucket. this whole place is an animal & here in the walk-in, you are crouched safely in its white, panicked lung. uncle e-thing always wants tepid water with a lemon wedge. once, i forgot about the ice. i brought him the ice & he shouted & waved his hands a bunch. i was scared he didn't like me & that any second he'd ask for tanya. & my face burnt & suddenly i wanted him to think i was pretty. in the walk-in, it's like stagedeath in someone's arms, that booming tenor showtune, because sung-to is more comforting that being the singer for obvious reasons. you have to cut a whole lemon if it's lunch and the bar isn't open yet & if the bar is open they get mad at you for stealing their lemons. i mean, it's just a lemon. you can handle a lemon & the bar really doesn't care. it's just uncle blah-blah-blah & how you've already given up just to say his name & eddie-sam likes that & that one time, how you were. it makes you blush to think of it, so you just shut up & don't. in movies, that moment before a buck gets shot & either lives or dies depending on the storyline how its face turns to the gun & hush. you are crouching in its lung.

I finished a few shorter books over the week. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. I did enjoy this. I liked his collage style, constantly bringing things back in to compare them to something else. (Sorry, didn't write down any examples.) I have read only one other Palahniuk book (Choke), and I felt like the style and characters were similar. I get the feeling that a person could only read so much by this author, or at least the books would have to be read fairly far apart so you don't tire of the style. (But my husband tells me Survivor and Pygmy are different enough from his usual thing.) The one thing I really didn't like about the book was that it took a sociopath to start a revolution. The personality that got things done lacked emotions and empathy, and that would seem to discredit the many truths in the book and the whole idea of a revolution. the meatgirl whatever by Kristin Hatch. Poetry. A little Joycean. The poet uses interesting grammar, modifiers and portmanteau, which makes for a cute voice that contrasts with cussing and dark ideas and themes. I found some of it unintelligible, but still, it's tough to choose a poem to post because I loved so many of them. Many are kind of long. I'll post one separately. Love's Labour's Lost by Shakespeare. Silly. I look forward to a performance of it this Tuesday. I'm continuing with The Three Musketeers, and I have several books here that I'd like to start: Daisy Miller, The Duino Elegies, and Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate.

Eliana, thank you, thank you, thank you. You are a librarian-muse - that is, both informative and inspiring bookwise.

Any way I can get you to share about that? Most entertaining? Most interesting?

I finished Jason and the Golden Fleece. I read this mainly to read the story of how Medea met Jason, but I also enjoyed the Argonauts' stop at Lemnos, where they met a city of women who had recently killed all the men (except one - Hypsipyle saved her father, the king, by sneaking him off on boat to another city.). The men had replaced their wives with women stolen on raids. I also finished Monday or Tuesday - short stories by Virginia Woolf. IMO, these were not nearly as good as her novels. I even question if all of them were meant to be stories, or just writing exercises. (For instance, Blue and Green.) Still, an interesting and instructive set of pieces. I have started two books of brawling men: The Three Musketeers and Fight Club. Both very fun so far. I also started in on Wired for Story. I was originally planning on joining in for the Chevalier read, but now I'm thinking it's not going to happen. There are too many other books right now that I feel I need to read.

I finished Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. These sentences meant the most to me: I am currently working on Jason and the Golden Fleece (The Argonautica) by Apollonius of Rhodes (Apollonius Rhodius) and Monday or Tuesday - a small book of short stories by Virginia Woolf. Here's my list so far. 45. Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Maria Rilke 44. Medea Euripides* 43. The Complete Poems of Sappho Sappho, Willis Barnstone 42. Karate Chop Dorthe Nors 41. Blood Lyrics Katie Ford 40. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 39. Selected Poems Corsino Fortes 38. A People’s History of the U.S. Howard Zinn* 37. Glitter in the Blood Mindy Nettifee 36. Diaries of Franz Kafka Franz Kafka* 35. Maps of the Imagination Peter Turchi 34. Sin and Syntax Constance Hale 33. Narrative Design Madison Smartt Bell 32. The Boy Who Lost Fairyland Catherynne M. Valente 31. The 2015 Rhysling Anthology various authors 30. Repossession (iZombie, Vol. 4) Chris Roberson 29. Purgatorio Dante Alighieri 28. Six Feet Under and Rising (iZombie, Vol. 3) Chris Roberson 27. uVampire (iZombie, Vol. 2) Chris Roberson 26. Dead to the World (iZombie, Vol. 1) Chris Roberson 25. Henry IV, Part 2 William Shakespeare 24. The Jungle Upton Sinclair 23. How to Haiku Bruce Ross 22. Lyric Poems John Keats 21. No Matter the Wreckage Sarah Kay 20. Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill 19. After Midnight various authors 18. Orlando Virginia Woolf 17. The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank* 16. The Art of Description Mark Doty 15. Henry IV, Part 1 William Shakespeare 14. Bluets Maggie Nelson 13. Cosmicomics Italo Calvino 12. The Art of the Poetic Line James Logenbach 11. Citizen: An American Lyric Claudia Rankine 10. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen 9. Dynamic Characters Nancy Kress 8. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid Wendy Williams 7. Henni Miss Lasko-Gross 6. Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth* 5. Richard II William Shakespeare* 4. Why Read Moby-Dick? Nathaniel Philbrick 3. Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami 2. Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow Ted Hughes 1. Sonnet Lindsey Rodgers

Congrats Jane and M-MV on reaching 52, and Happy Birthday Stacia! :party: I finished several books over the last week. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee which my ds is still reading. I'm so glad I finally read this. Love how the pace of the story reminds me of a southern drawl (without boring me). Karate Chop by Dorthe Nors. This is a collection of short stories, not flash but on the shorter side of short. They had a poetic feel, were character-focused. They all interested me, but none of them got to me emotionally. Blood Lyrics by Katie Ford. This book of poems was hit and miss. Some poems I loved, others I read a few times wondering what I was missing, but never found anything to like. Here are a couple of shorter poems that I really liked. Song of the Thimble Here is the whiskey taken down from my cupboard. It tastes of caramel and heat and miners and sea. Maybe a mother with love long on the brink will knock at my door to talk of tubes, taps, fusions, to say yes-mine-lived-yours-might-too. But there's no such knock tonight. I pour just a thimble (clean milk is due the nurse by dawn) and drink what will not grow thin. Again in my mind I pour it, I pour it, I drink. Choir I once believed in heavenly clarity -- do you know how good it is to sing of certainty, the wild apricot of the heart orange, large, full of reach at day's unlatch? Inside the mouth, certainty is a fruit breaking apart. That is how good it feels: we would have despised anyone to keep our song. ___________________________ I also read The Complete Poems of Sappho. I love this fragment, which the translator titles "Dancers at a Kritan Altar." Kritan women once danced supplely around a beautiful altar with light feet crushing the soft flowers of grass ____________________________________ And I enjoyed her line breaks in poems in which she used what we now call Sapphic Stanzas. For example: Some say cavalry and others claim infantry or a fleet of long oars is the supreme sight on the black earth I say it is the one you love. And easily proved. Didn't Helen, who far surpassed all in beauty, desert the best of men her husband and king ... _________________________________- Then today I read Medea by Euripides. And I am currently reading Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. My father's favorite books. He died when I was very young, so I don't know much, but I know he had a copy of The Bible (KJV) and a copy of Slaughterhouse-Five. It was finding the second book in the basement that started my love of Vonnegut.

I finished A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I'm glad to have read it, though I didn't retain any of the many, many specific facts from the book, only the general points. I also read Selected Poems of Corsino Fortes. I don't think I could imagine a meaning, even a basic surface meaning, for most of these poems, but there were nuggets of goodness throughout. Such as: on the rock the sun breaks the yolk of hunger the wind grinds the stone with the flour's white cry the people and the people's hand write the longhand sentence in the earth And I really liked this short poem: Island Sun & seed: root and lightning stroke Drum of sound That flourishes On the bald head of God. I am still reading Karate Chop, and I have started Blood Lyrics and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I made some progress on my currently-reading clean out by finishing Maps of the Imagination (started about a month and a half ago) and Diaries of Franz Kafka (started January, 2012). More clean-out books to come: A People's History of the United States One Zentangle A Day I also read Glitter in the Blood by Mindy Nettifee. This is a book about writing poetry. My review: Great for a teenage female. The tone is hipster aunt gab session, do you wanna take a hit off my joint?, just one - don't tell your mother. Some messages: Be yourself, and tell us all about it. It's cool to be smart. It's cool to be healthy. Question everything and everyone. Poetry is hard work. Plus, of course, some lessons on writing good poetry, prompts. and some jumping off points for fledgling autodidacts. And I started Selected Poems of Corsino Fortes and Karate Chop.

Well, last week I had a to-read-next stack, and I still have the same stack untouched. I am just in clean out mode right now, trying to finish the many books that I started months (or years) ago so I can start fresh. I have mental clutter from all the books I'm "currently reading" and can't bring myself to start something new until some of it is cleared away. I finished Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose by Constance Hale. And my focus right now is on finishing Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi. As for Dumas, I do plan to read The Three Musketeers this summer with my eldest ds, but we may or may not get started in June. To Kill a Mockingbird is first.

I finished The 2015 Rhysling Anthology, The Boy Who Lost Fairyland and Narrative Design. I still have some writing books going, and I'm trying to get some literary magazines read, too. And I've got a stack forming of to-read next: Karate Chop (short stories), Selected Poems of Corsino Fortes (Thank you, Jane!), and To Kill a Mockingbird (Really, I've never read this.).

Oh, I came upon this person's blog when I was looking for the meaning of the word komorebi. One of these days I'll get this book, maybe two copies of it, one for myself and one for the family gift exchange. (Then again, I'm probably the only person in the family who would like it. Do I force it on them?)

Ack! Sorry you have to deal with that, but glad it didn't get too out of hand before it was caught and blocked. I finished Purgatorio - didn't like it as much as Inferno, but there were a couple of good spots, like eyes sewn shut with wire. And I also read volume 4 of iZombie. I continue to read the 2015 Rhysling Anthology, The Boy Who Lost Fairyland and various writing books.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! I read volumes 1 - 3 of iZombie. It is total brain candy, a much needed break. I'm sorry there is only one more volume to read. I also read 24 cantos of Purgatorio, started in on the 2015 Rhysling Anthology, and began reading Catherynne M. Valente's The Boy Who Lost Fairyland with my middle ds.

I managed to read Henry IV, Part 2, and I have several books ready, or close to it. Dante is sitting here beside me, and I recently got the 2015 Rhysllng Anthology (SF/F poetry) in the mail. The first two volumes of iZombie are sitting on my holds shelf at the library - just have to go pick them up.

I finally finished The Jungle, and thought it was much better than other books I've read that were perhaps written more with the intent of getting a message out than doing a literary thought experiment. Now I've got Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2 sitting here, but I can't make myself start it. The formatting is so bad. Sigh. So I've just been reading writing books while avoiding Shakespeare and not allowing myself to start anything else because I think I ought to read the Shakespeare first.

Thank you. I am trying to read more short stories and put both of these on my to-read list.

Well, I didn't finish anything this week. I'm still working on The Jungle and various writing books. And while I wait for the library to acquire a couple of other books I want to read (Karate Chop by Dorthe Nors and Blood Lyrics by Katie Ford), I've been reading an issue of Shimmer Magazine that's been on my shelf for two or three years now.

I finished Lyric Poems by John Keats and have only the appendices left in How to Haiku: A Writer's Guide to Haiku and Related Forms by Bruce Ross. I am still reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It's slow-going right now because I've been scoring for Pearson. Here's a haiku of my experience just a few minutes ago. rain pats the windshield I read while waiting, then, ah! so much fresh bird sh*t And a scifaiku empty planet you take a step and the dust comes to life

Hey, thanks! Those do look good (The Lanny Budd books - Churchill's books just look big and looming). And it looks like they are available at the library of a local private college that makes their books available to the public. It's quite good to know these exist.

I finished No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay. I wanted to read this because I think it was the winner in the poetry category of the Goodreads Choice Awards last year, but I wasn't too fond of it. It was very cute, but not particularly deep or moving. I did manage to start The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and I am about 1/3 of the way through it. I had read several reviews that said it was dry and boring. Well, I guess my tastes are just at odds with those of other Goodreadsians right now, because I am enjoying it. April poetry - I started Lyric Poems by Keats and I asked the library to purchase Blood Lyrics by Katie Ford. I don't think I've posted my list since January, so here it is. 21. No Matter the Wreckage Sarah Kay 20. Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill 19. After Midnight various authors 18. Orlando Virginia Woolf 17. The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank 16. The Art of Description Mark Doty 15. Henry IV, Part 1 William Shakespeare 14. Bluets Maggie Nelson 13. Cosmicomics Italo Calvino 12. The Art of the Poetic Line James Logenbach 11. Citizen: An American Lyric Claudia Rankine 10. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen 9. Dynamic Characters Nancy Kress 8. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid Wendy Williams 7. Henni Miss Lasko-Gross 6. Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth 5. Richard II William Shakespeare 4. Why Read Moby-Dick? Nathaniel Philbrick 3. Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami 2. Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow Ted Hughes 1. Sonnet Lindsey Rodgers

I finished a book of short stories by Mary Gaitskill: Bad Behavior. These stories often feature people who make alternative life choices (drugs, prostitution, etc.) and show the emotional effects of living in a society with shame and humiliation built into the system. I also read a comic anthology that I got from Kickstarter: After Midnight. I loved the variety here. And there were great story ideas, but each story was told, or often just suggested or hinted at, in just one to four pages. I would have liked more. I am still reading No Matter the Wreckage and a bunch of writing books, and I'm having trouble making myself break into a novel. I look at the size of The Jungle, which was chosen by my friend as the next book we'll read together, and I just think Arrgh! I don't have time for that right now! I hope to take several deep breaths and read the first chapter today. We'll see.

I finished Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I didn't like this one quite as much as the other books I've read by her (To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway), but it was still a four star read for me. I got a small start on Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill, and I read a little more from No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay. I also have two novels sitting here: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Prudence by Gail Carriger.