Well this one‘s got me all…you know what. Getting old is terrifying. Whew.

I love this collection for a few reasons. 1. This should be taught in place of Emily Dickinson‘s little innuendo poems, because all of these are far more clever (in my opinion). 2. How beautifully arranged it is! Including the Nôm alphabet that the poet originally wrote in, modern Vietnamese text, and English translations side by side. So beautiful to see the language change shape like this.

Pardon my planner‘s language and my horrid handwriting 😂 but getting a few days head start on the February reading list. I‘ve mapped out my TBR pile over the next few months - and made my goal for January! Starting off with some poetry, and ending with poet-and-essayist Clint Smith‘s new book, How The Word Is Passed. Wish me luck!

This is a crash course on Lorde‘s essays, speeches, poetry and more. A fascinating look at her mind at its most pointed - during keynote speeches and public appearances, to its more casual (still powerful and brilliant) journal passages from her time battling liver cancer. It‘s a multi-faceted look at an artist whose body of work is still so vital to our collective learning and advancement. Please read more Audre Lorde.

A beautiful, vast collection of Gilbert‘s work. Some true heartbreakers in here. I have one very specific bit of advice: if you‘re just recently engaged or will be getting married very soon, do NOT read this collection until much later! 😫

Wonderful collection of poems, journals, scraps of ideas from a prolific poet. I hadn‘t delved into Bishop much prior to now, but I like the fact that my introduction to her has been through her messy handwriting and watching the sprouting of ideas through re-worked pieces.

This is what happens when you don‘t read the product info closely enough 😂 You end up with a giant bookplate stamp when you only expected a little handheld one. I‘ll be getting ALL my borrowed books back now.

I feel like Neil went viral over one of his LEAST strong poems, and that‘s saying something because “O.C.D” is a beautiful piece. But this book is full of them, and I can‘t decide if I want to go see him read live in Boston in December, or spare myself some crying in public.

I can‘t say enough about Sarah Kay. Go watch her spoken word on YouTube, she‘s like a brilliant Disney Princess with her cute dresses and expressive face. I‘ve been reading so much poetry lately because Ive been trying to jumpstart my own creativity, get my own juices flowing, and I finally broke through after reading this collection. The poem “Hands” made me cry.

I loved the femininity of this book. Lots of new poetry books are black/white/grey, this one popped right out at me with its lovely pink. Inside are some truly beautiful poems full of heartache, lust, and love. I finished this in a night, couldn‘t put it down.

I hate to say I dislike a poet‘s work, but seriously - there are only so many times you can get away with describing someone as ‘broken and beautiful‘ or ‘broken but beautiful‘ before I chuck the book acroom. Nothing in this collection moved me. I‘d like to hope the other 5 by this artist are a bit better.

I took a chance on this book, intrigued by the title but prepared for overdramatic love poems. I was pleasantly surprised to find they weren‘t too overdramatic, but perfect heart-string tuggers. The photography throughout the book was cool too, it complimented its accompanying poem well. Only complaint: author needs to get more creative w/ collection titles.

This is a powerful collection from a poet who weaves heartbreak and joy into nearly every poem. The pop culture references are endless, and charming. Hanif strikes me as one of those boys I would have an undeniable crush on, we‘d both be too polite to mention it, but we‘d buy pairs of tickets to shows knowing we were going to take the other. He‘s on my list of people that Id invite to a dinner party.

I just realized that I haven‘t shared any of the other poetry books I‘ve been devouring. I‘ll have to do a massive update. In the meantime, Rupi‘s sophmore effort is spectacular. Building on her first book with graceful power and heartwrenching vulnerability. I also recommend watching her TedXtalk before you start, you‘ll hear her voice when you read.

I work in a theatre box office, and often get to have lovely conversations with patrons. Yesterday a patron and I somehow got on topic of dogs, and she GUSHED about this. I told her about my poor Prudence passing in Feb and then we both got teary, she lost her dog in December. She came back for the show that night & gifted this. 'I promise you'll feel better", she said. Hope shes right.

I recently lost my favorite, bookworm Uncle very suddenly. He left behind a room bursting with artifacts. Artwork, CDs & records, and books. Stacks upon stacks of books. We've been cleaning out his room, and I was able to dig through a few stacks tonight to take what I wanted. Found these 1973 editions of LOTR. I have their brother, The Hobbit, on my shelf already - given to me by Uncle D when I was 11. I'm missing him quite a bit tonight.

I am an unabashed Anne Rice fan, and I actually fully enjoyed Prince Lestat but, I'm at the third chapter and I swear to god if we're adding aliens into this I'm going to be exhausted trying to keep up with all this supernatural shit.

Oh my goodness, did this collection of poems level me. Please go pick this beautiful book up NOW.

I honestly don't know what to make of this book yet, and I'm on page 325 out of 390. True crime mixed with Victorian inventions seemed like a great idea, but honestly I got bogged down and bored-nearly annoyed- with all the talk of 'landscape architecture' 🙄🙄🙄

So glad I took a chance on this book. Superiorly creepy, and the artwork is just incredible.

Note to Future Readers: save this for a day when it's sunny out and you're not recovering from a New Years Eve without a midnight kiss. While most are nice, and some even romantic, they're all bumming me out right now.

Spent my morning reading A Christmas Carol - which is actually a SUPER quick read - and moving on to Jean Shepherd's masterpiece collection of short stories that inspired the film. Happy Holidays, Litsies!

These are fantastic, bite-sized bits of creepiness. I've been trying to guess some endings but have failed thus far!

A good read, creepy zombie scenes and genuinely terrifying human activity as well. But I hated the ending. Would recommend to a scifi fan more readily than a horror fan.

Litsy, Im sorry I've been so lax. I've missed you! This past weekend I attended Rhode Island Comic Con, and Im not one to read superhero ones - so I dig through the weird ones & found THIS. Legitimately scary and artwork is stunning. About half-way through. Taking a bit because Im staring at some pages for a full 5 mins.

LOVED. THIS. I feel like the ending was a nod to horror short stories that leave you going WAITWAIT THERE AREN'T ENOUGH PAGES...NOOOOOO! Fantastic, couldn't put it down. It gets a little muddy in the middle as nearly the entire cast gets pulled into one confusing scene, but once the web untangles you're caught in it.

Shit-talking Lovecraft: "he would be just another college freshman looking up at the sky and realizing, finally, that nobody will ever love him as much as his mother did, before he could express himself." - also, artwork of this book makes me incredibly happy.

About to delve into this. Picked it up from the shelf, read the back cover and put it back down, but couldn't stop thinking about it while browsing. Ended up leaving with this, and not the book I went in for 😂

Going to start re-reading the Potters, because I've been in a foul mood lately, and Im starting with the illustrated Sorcerer's Stone. Artwork by Jim Kay is simply breathtaking.

I borrowed this from a friend earlier this summer, while still reading Hamilton - a silly mistake! Jumping into it now, and trying to remember if I find Fitzgerald or Salinger more annoying. I'm glad this is told from Zelda's perspective.

This book has me writing out a blog post about my boobs. I think that's enough of an endorsement for this fun and fast-paced read. Part social experiment, part anthropological study, it gives perspective to boob-bearers all along the spectrum.

Hey! I realized earlier my copy was signed by the author, gifted to an interview source in the book! Used book stores hide the best surprises.

Chapter 5: The Perfect Bra. This was the last chapter I read before I went shopping for that new bra. Ladies, find a REAL lingerie store near you - Victoria's Secret is that she hates you - and get properly fitted for your undies. It'll change your life.

I found this book ages ago for $2 at a used book shop in Boston, read a quarter of it on the train ride home, went out and got properly fitted for a new bra. Then I forgot it on my shelf! Starting again, and thought I'd be a bit cheeky and photograph it with my own 34H 😁

This really was a beautiful book. There were moments where I had flashbacks to middle school - the way Mary was scolded as a novice nun sounds very similar to my experiences as wayward preteen with a spiky pixie cut Catholic school. The last two pages brought me to feel-good tears. A bit of an emotionally difficult read for me. Highly recommended, but with a hearty warning for other Recovering Catholics.

All this reading about church and obedience and chastity just makes me want to go out and do something depraved. Recovering Catholic School Student problems.

My mental exhaustion face while reading this book. Mary Johnson spent twenty years as a nun. I've only read through the first two of them and I'm already frustrated.

I could hear the capital letters in her voice, see them in the way her eyebrows rose. - what an absolutely perfect and delightful way to describe someone's speech.

This one didnt leave me with the same dire need to go SOMEWHERE - like I legit almost packed my life away and left after On The Road. Probably because he mostly talked about camping and sleeping outside and just...ew. 💀🕷🐌🐜. But the way Kerouac writes about people always moves me, and this had no shortage of lovely characters & beautifully detailed settings.

I attended a three-day writer's conference this past weekend, and instead of reading I've been WRITING MY OWN WORDS!! ?? Also, memoirist Mary Johnson spoke at the conference and I left that day with her book "An Unquenchable Thirst". Its already given me Catholic school nightmares and I'm only 50 pgs in.

My sister told me this print looks like messy bookshelves, so I bought it but now I'm just seeing ink splots. Thoughts?

My reading nook for the day.

This book mentions Oregon way too many times for my current wanderlust problem.

I've always been amazed at the variety of cover art for various editions. Found this vintage beaut circa 1974 for $2 at a used book store. Diving in today.

As stated earlier, this book in general bummed me out. It wasn't what I expected from seeing the film adaptation, and I guess that just means I should do more research. Even for my spooky taste, the posthumous interviews with loved ones and friends was too morbid. I did enjoy my time reading it, but wouldn't recommend offhand.

I've only seen half of the film adaptation, & wasn't aware that we begin this story knowing of Chris' grisly end. I was hoping for more adventure than posthumous biography - talking about this kid in past tense bums me out.

I've had Hamilaria for quite a long time now, and felt I should take on this massive tome that inspired the musical. Not exactly light reading, but engaging and fun. Ham's real-life drama is fascinating & if you cry a the ending of the soundtrack? Pft. Brace yourself for the epilogue. #Hamilton #pagetostage #nonfiction #Americanhistory

Don't come at me with the "bad fanfiction" review. This was magical and tear-inducing and I wanted it to go on for much longer. Scorpius isn't such a bad name after all. #HarryPotter #keepthesecrets #tilltheveryend

I really loved this trilogy. While it reminded me of a fanfic I wrote in highschool about the #BaileySchoolKids growing up to be paranormal investigators, what with the cool van and high-tech gear, its much more well-written and genuinely scary at times. Good blend of dystopian conspiracy theory and #zombie lit madness.

This might be the most horrifyingly worn book in my library. I'm only slightly ashamed of its outward appearance, but inside it's dotted with light tearstains from my first, fifth and probably twentith read-through. I will always love this story. #TheOutsiders #summerreading #staygold