This session of spine poetry stems from my last 5 completed books, but as of a few days ago because I wrote these and then finished some books before finishing this post. 😅 At the time of writing my five most recently finished books were:
I was quite impressed
by all the puns Pollack made.
He could fillet book!
Oh, looks like he already has. 😁 This was a re-read for me, but I read it so long ago that I wanted to go through it again. It’s pretty expansive in how much it covers, and I knew I would have forgotten a lot of it. What a delight to revisit this one!
(I tried REALLY hard to think of a Pollack-fish pun 😂)
Here are some haikus
inspired by the book Slay
that I wrote one day
this needs to be real
the gamer in me wants it
who’s up for the task?
in america
we still need these reminders
privilege is real
raw, funny, clever
and the truth makes your head spin
but I still called it
Alright, y’all, I’ll be honest: I’ve never been swayed by Star Wars. The story seems right up my alley, but my stars was I ever unable to manage to get through the films. I recently watched 3-6 and 9 with my beau this year at his insistence, and they were decent though still didn’t blow me away.
BUT.
I found something amazing even to me at More Than Words a few months ago. Even with my negligent interest in Star Wars, I was desperate to have it.
This session of spine poetry comes off of my shelf of books from around the world. Some I’ve read already and some are still waiting, but this is one of my favorite shelves ever. 😊
Today it’s given me a bit of a first-time-in love feeling, where mistakes are made and learned from. I hope it ultimately has a more positive feeling, but you tell me!
Between shades of gray,
a love that never tires.
heart of darkness, chasing the light.
the best we could do?
the upside
of falling
down:
the art of hearing heartbeats
As always with writing and especially poetry, what the author had in mind doesn’t really matter. The story is created through interaction with the viewer and has infinite possibilities. But this is what I had in mind when writing this. And I absolutely love it.
I imagine here two people who are together and work for their love. They fight, they struggle, they question if they’re right for each other. There are a lot of tears and pain, but the good times are so good that it seems like its worth the trade. They try so hard to be better, to be what they think they should be. Ultimately they can only keep trying, keep failing, and keep learning. Each time they push the other away, the ultimately learn how to bring someone closer. Every hurtful word and painful moment teaches them about each other and themselves, and in the end allows them a deep intimate knowledge. With trust and persistence, they can learn how to balance the good and the bad and when they do, their love will be dynamic and impenetrable.
Do you get a different story or tone from this? Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments! ✍
Why is it so easy to write sad depressing things from book titles? Is this a revelation about what I read? I had no idea…
This session of spine poetry is fully powered by books I’ve read from NetGalley (thanks NetGalley!). It’s a little bit longer, and I was delighted with how well I managed to make it come together. It can also tell the story of another book on my NetGalley list, Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson. Without further ado, here it is:
Big lies in a small town, unearthed
Only mostly devastated
master of
sorrows, scars
like wings.
Lost
and found every colour of you
…
The art of looking up
As you can see, I got a little more creative with the formatting here instead of just providing the list of book names. I wanted to focus attention on certain words and pairings. The physical shape of it is deliberate, driving down narrower and narrower into the word lost before expanding out again, emphasizing how you can feel like you have less and less.How until you’re able to grow past the darkness, often with the help of someone else, you feel lost. How you can be dazzled back into life by someone else’s reckless happiness (thanks Rooster Teeth).
So how does this align with Every Other Weekend? Well let’s take a look! Big lies, relating to Adam’s discovery of what the heck is going on with his parents. Those are unearthed, leading him to a spiral of anger and fear that he struggles to get out of. Enter Jolene, who has been living in a similar world of family disaster for so long that her hate has crystallized into scars (sometimes more literal than we’d like). Both feel completely lost, and then they find each other. They learn each other and through that, themselves, and ultimately learn how to find joy in any shade of life.
Reviews for each book in this list here!
Every other weekend
Big lies in a small town
unearthed
Only mostly devastated
master of sorrows
scars like wings
Lost and found
every colour of you
The art of looking up
Lighter by Ameena Karaja – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recommended: sure
For relatable poetry that mirrors universal feeling, for uplifting encouragement when it’s needed most, for a comforting reminder that you are not alone
Summary:
Light.er is a collection of poetry and prose that is divvied up into three parts: You, I, and We. ‘You’ contains words of empowerment and courage. ‘I’ explores the affects of living through struggles and nostalgia. ‘We’ is a combination of the two that emphasizes how similar we all are, in both happiness and grief. (*50% of all proceeds go to the MATW project; a non-profit organisation working to better the lives of the widows and orphans of Togo, Africa. You can check out their incredible work on their website: www.matwproject.org)
Thoughts:
I’ve had this collection waiting for me on my Kindle for a while, and was saving it for a day when I knew I needed it. That day recently came, and I was happy to find this set here waiting for me. The cover in this case perfectly sets the expectation of what is inside. The poetry within is very light and warm, and cleverly divided into sections of “you,” “I,” and “we” with themes to match. It’s a very clever setup, and executed well.
My favorite touch was the dashes at the end of some poems that seemed to serve almost as a postscript, or an author’s signature. They often added some humour or sweetness to the poems themselves. Sometimes they even shifted the mood of it overall and you would have a very different message without them.
Some of these didn’t make much sense to me or seemed a bit contradictory to themselves, but it’s easy enough to let go and enjoy despite that when you embrace the sweetness of this set. It’s truly created as a gift to others, as evident in the author’s note. I sincerely appreciate the work that went into this and the kindness in sending it out into the world. A perfect collection to turn to on any day, but especially one where you need a friend and some kind words.
Words have always carried more weight with me than images – give me a book over its movie any day – but I do love to see the beautiful images other people create when they’re in love with a book. That’s not my strength, but I can certainly appreciate it in others! So here’s a few of my faves based on what I’ve been reading recently.
I’ve had this little book of poetry on my kindle for a while, waiting for when the time felt right. That time came this weekend, and I was swept away by this lovely set of poems! SO grateful to have this in my back pocket for tough days now. I’ll definitely be buying the physical copy, because it’s gorgeous (as you’ll see below) and feels like the kind of thing you want to give physical presence to.
Ahhhh, it’s so gorgeous. The original poster’s account is gone now, but the author has a repost, luckily!
And yes, of course, the poetry is gorgeous too ^.^
Continue reading “A Picture’s Worth: Light & Lukewarm (it’s better than it sounds!)”
My Book Joy 