June 2024 Reading Challenge: A Month of Poetry

Poem Pile

I'm a poet and didn't know it. No, wait...I did know it. Anyway, I thought June would be a good month for some poetry immersion. Random, out of the blue, and why not? Here's the short stack I pulled off the library shelf this morning...my inspiration for a reading challenge:

1.) The Aspiring Poet's Journal by Bernard Friot

2.) For Everyone by Jason Reynolds

3.) If Men, Then by Elzia Griswold

4.) My Name is Jason. Mine, Too... by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

5.) Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

6.) Wet Cement, a Mix of Concrete Poems by Bob Raczka

7.) Feel Your Way Through by Kelsea Ballerini

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"Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of dictionary." ~Khalil Gibran

February 2023 Reading Challenge: Book Title Haiku

A book title haiku reading challenge? Of course! Sign me up, please. To refresh the rusty minds out there--like moi--a haiku is typically five syllables on the first line, seven on the second, and five syllables for the last line. It took some time perusing my bookshelf to find titles that worked AND made sense poetically. But I found 'em:

Book Title Haiku

Frozen detective...

How (not) to find a boyfriend,

Writing down the bones.

The book list:

1.) Frozen Detective by Amanda Flower (AMZ)
A Knives Out-style cozy mystery with intrigue, a fake relationship, and humor. 

2.) How (Not) to Find a Boyfriend by Allyson Valentine (AMZ)
Can an overachiever turned airhead morph into a truer version of herself for love?

3.) Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (AMZ)
The secret to creativity is to subtract rules, "uneducate" yourself, and find the Zen writing experience.

March 2022 Reading Challenge: BINGO Update

 

Five in a row...fourth BINGO!

My two favorite reads.

 

SET IN THE NORTHWEST
Wonderland: Poems by Matthew Dickman (Poetry) - 4 out of 5 stars.
The eighties were a dreary time in Portland, yet the author's words seemed as apropos then as they do now, which inspired my ode to Wonderland:

This is Portland then and now.
This is Seattle, too, a green and seedy place, full of despair.
This is pills and brown powder on the streets and spent needles floating on puddles.
This is home to Billionaire Bill.
This is sprawling suburbia where neighbors in beige McMansions whisper behind their hands, "They're new here."
This is twenty years of "We should get together," on the other side of the fence.
This is the weather, wet, moist, gray, pushing people into their living rooms to collectively hate the color orange.
This is what 3 a.m. looks like.
~by Stacia Leigh

 

BY AN INDIE AUTHOR
Winds of Skilak by Bonnie Rose Ward (Memoir) - 5 out of 5 stars!
An adventurous read already mentioned on the February 2022 BINGO win.

ABOUT YOUR DREAM JOB
27 Essential Principles of Story by Daniel Joshua Rubin - 5 out of 5 stars!
A shelf-worthy book with a new take on story crafting. Highly recommend.

A CULTURAL FIND
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed (Middle Grade) - Highly recommend!
A fun read already mentioned on the October 2021 BINGO win.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Winds of Skilak: The Continuing Saga by Bonnie Rose Ward (Memoir) - 5 out of 5 stars!
The author certainly lived an adventurous and dangerous life. I think she should write a cook book next or maybe even one on canning. How many jars does it take to can a moose or a bear? Loved this series and would recommend it to anyone who's interested in homesteading, Alaska, or just being in the great outdoors.

Follow the BINGO wins here:
June 2022 Reading Challenge: BINGO Blackout!
February 2022 Reading Challenge: BINGO Update
January 2022 Reading Challenge: BINGO Update
October 2021 Reading Challenge: BINGO Update

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Want to join the fun? Click here to get your own BINGO card on Etsy.