mckaley

Has all the things I look for in a novel. So many life isms to take away from it. A creative and unexpected way to put a novel together. The prose is a delight and I was moved to tears by the twist at the end. If you’ve experienced loss you must read this. Akbar deals with and romantic love with each care, it’s quiet and always there. It’s in the moment you don’t think of. It has the feelings of myth.

my favorite essays were in the personals section, and the final essay “goodbye to all that.” i think often times i had no idea what she was talking about but i completely have the understanding that she is so intelligent and detailed in her observations. I think my issue was she would often put us into a scenario and as I didn’t live through the 60s and honestly don’t know a lot about the 60s. I had no idea who she was talking about, so I’d start very lost in her work.

so much love and sorrow. i’m completely moved by these poems, so many I liked I can’t give my normal list. It makes me think of my own family, my aunt who cares for our sick. Spectacular words, words that move me, words I don’t want to ever forget

I picked this book up because I love “Instructions on not giving up” Limón is interesting because her poems are so rooted romanticizing nature. She paints these pictures that you can see in your mind. But a lot of these poems were about her struggle to conceive her relationship with time, herself, and her husband. I found a lot of these beautiful and approachable. Thank you for being the first hispanic woman to become the poet laureate of the usa.

Sharon olds writes hauntingly and with such control! I love so many of her poems and I definitely want to read more of her work. Did feel a bit conflicted about her poems about her father and the sexual undertones. Couldn’t find any details about that.