Having just finished and loved her first poetry collection, I‘m sooo looking forward to jumping right away to her second one 🤩📚😍

“I say I want love
but I know it‘s not true
when it comes,
what will I do
with this habit
of asking for what
I do not know how to keep?”

-from her poem, “Asking”

About to begin this book which I‘ve been meaning to get to for the longest time!

Calming my heart, taking deep breaths.

Sometimes highly anticipated books do that to you, am I right? 😊🤓

Just finished listening to this audiobook and just thinking of how I wished I had read along with the actual book in my hands... I‘m definitely planning on revisiting it — what a powerful collection of poems.

Unrequited love and his mother‘s advice that “love will come with time” are definitely at the root of the problem with their marriage...

Nothing makes me read a book right away more than when it‘s due the next day at the library! 😅

This one is a graphic novel set in Tehran, 1958 about Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran‘s most revered tar players. After a fight with his wife that ended with his precious instrument broken, he has been depressed and determined to let death take him away. The book is filled with flashbacks with the people that visit him and I‘m intrigued to read the rest.

I‘m excited for this book! I‘ve haven‘t heard a lot of this poet but the cover of her book is quite alluring ever since I first saw it publicized by Tin House Books. I‘ve been meaning for the perfect time to read it and perhaps today is the day! 🤞🏽

“We can‘t know or understand everything in life,
and for once I have to confess that
I‘m not sure I can tell you
what got into me that I suddenly felt so...
empty.

...

...
like it had always been there just waiting for this moment.
the silence came in and sat down very close to me.
And to see it there, not moving
would have freaked anyone out.

(It was the kind of silence
where you could hear a pin drop.)”

Jumping to another collection and wow, the first story, “The Dirty Kid” is unsettling! I definitely can see how it‘s compared to Shirley Jackson! The writing is definitely captivating.

I‘ll be reading Mariana Enriquez‘ book in both English and Spanish and having just read the first one in English, I‘ll now be reading it in Spanish. I‘ll then switch the order for the second and read it in Spanish first and establish a pattern from there. 😅📚🤓

Rereading a couple of stories from this collection. I really need to read more of Baldwin‘s books. I just own this one and a poetry collection but there‘s far too many others I‘m missing out on for sure 📚🤔

The premise of the novel intrigues me quite so! Having also gone to a private high school on the Upper East Side, and being Latinx myself, I‘ve felt this novel call to me for quite a while. I‘m more than ready to embark on the journey Jimenez has to offer 😃

“Maybe the truth does not matter, but I want to know it if only so that I can come to some conclusions about such questions as: whether he is angry at me or not; if he is, then how angry; whether he still loves her or not; if he does, then how much; whether he loves me or not; how much; how capable he is of deceiving me in the act and after the act in the telling.”

1st story in and this whole paragraph has me stunned. The truth definitely matters

I recently asked an online book friend for their favorite short story collection, the one that changed their opinion of the genre more favorably and she said Lydia Davis‘ collected stories. I‘m always glad to hear these answers because I believe short stories are for everybody! They might take some time getting used to but once you find that first book, that writer that gets you and whose writing you appreciate, you can usually be led to more 😇📚

Tfw you know a book is sooo good but you don‘t want to read it yet because you don‘t know if you‘re ready but the writer is coming into town and if you don‘t read it you won‘t have the guts to go to her reading (which is so close by where you live, so no excuses unless it gets cancelled) and listen to her read irl and get your book signed so you‘re determined to pull an all-nighter because poetry is now a part of your life... yeah, I‘m ready 😬🤩

I‘ve been intrigued about this book for quite some time and have finally chosen tonight to read it. I‘m starting to realize I‘ve become a mood reader and have slowly accepted that it isn‘t necessarily a bad thing... I just have a lot of books that I want to read 😅🙃 I really enjoyed The Vegetarian and am confident that The White Book will deliver.

We‘ll see! 😃

Browsing around your local library can sometimes feel repetitive when you know you‘ve browsed before and weren‘t overcome with an urge to pick up any book. Does that happen to ya‘ll? Nevertheless, I browsed each row and was glad I did as I finally got the urge to read this book that I‘ve seen floating around the book community and although I was intrigued, I never took the next step of actually reading about it. Safe to say I‘m excited to read :)

“Seated on black marble, its darkness cool under his palms, the stone itself racketed as he looked deeper with ganglia of white neurons, he imagined he stood alone farther north, as in a Sung painting; stood beneath black skies with the white heartbeat of stars overhead and that rip tide of light, that Tai-chi extension of otherly grace, the northern lights.”

Honestly, this whole paragraph is a mood... stunned... caught reading it forever 💙🌃

Well, I haven‘t revisited this collection in quite some time!

I remember that for the longest time, I feverishly looked for this collection in Barnes & Noble and came up short everywhere I went. The story that did it for me was called “Winter Herons” and it had such evocative language that I could feel the words permeate through my being. It was assigned as reading material for my senior elective creative writing class and thank god for that!

I‘ve always wanted to read a Patti Smith book, whether it was M Train or Just Kids and I always assumed it was going to be one of those two so you can imagine my delight when I found this hidden gem at Housing Works Bookstore! It was too good to pass! I love a small book and appreciate its concise use of words and space. I just know I‘m in for a treat :)

Revisiting books is underrated and can be easily overlooked with all the books that are constantly being pushed in our direction as readers. I try to make time to reread books because I love going back to my favorites. I like seeing what I underlined, the marginalia on the side of pages, the post it notes tucked in or sticking out, my favorite bookmark I‘ve been looking for lol

Make time to reread your favorites too 😄📚

“...let‘s blame another gang for killing these dirtbags so Sam can get on with his important work. The Foleys agree. The police arrive and we all lie like rugs. The word spreads on Sam and the gangs leave us alone. For two months the Park is quiet and revenues start upscaling.”

Don‘t get me wrong, Saunders is a phenomenal writer and if a story gets me worked up it‘s because it‘s commentary on life is on point especially those turning a blind eye

Rereading this collection. Listening along to the audio version while following along on the page. Coming back to these stories, I can‘t help but really, really not like the (white) characters. They are clearly in the wrong with their racist motives causing a chain reaction of hatred and a cycle of oppression and maybe it‘s the news lately but I‘m tired of accountability not taking place and silence being the preferred method of communication...

“Art is a visual language, not one of words, and so conclusions about artwork based on verbal or written communication are a parallel but not a true equivalent. However, discussing painting helps us to empathize, to enjoy the image, and to learn more about the process of creating it.”

- From the Introduction — it‘s on point! 👌🏽

Picked this book up on a whim while at the library in the hopes of being better prepared next time I visit an art museum. 🤓 I like art but I‘ve always felt I‘ve lacked vocabulary to reference when expressing my thoughts and feelings about what I see — I‘d like to better appreciate the beauty of it all.

“I genuinely want him to come with me to the phone boy‘s show. Not just because I love him, but to protect that love from the new excitement taking over my brain. Deep down, though, I also crave the charge of having him and the phone boy in the same room. I am a terrible person, and worse still because though I genuinely want him to come to the phone boy‘s show, I‘m also genuinely thrilled he can‘t.

‘Love you,‘ I say. ‘Bye.‘”

❤️ THIS STORY

“I wave my prehistoric phone at him, a practical unnecessity but a spiritual must. He is my confessor and my phone is my confession. Forgive me. I don‘t belong in this world.”

😮 If I had to pinpoint the lines that made me a fan of this collection I‘d like to go on the record that these are them! Less than two pages in and I‘m stunned! You feel the narrator‘s shame, the materialistic guilt so conflicting in the necessity. Simply master class! 💯

Such a beautiful book! So glad to see it out in the world ❤️ it‘s been awhile since I‘ve read these stories online and to see them in print is surely going to be rewarding to revisit! #ShortStoriesForever

Love the cover, eagerly awaiting a page-turning read while I‘m enjoying the beautiful city weather outside 😇

“The time I tried to teach you to read the way Mrs. Callahan taught me...that act (a son teaching his mother) reversed our hierarchies, and with it our identities, which, in this country, were already tenuous and tethered.”

This book is so tender, so special. I‘m afraid to read it too quickly but bc it‘s a library book, I have just a few days left before I return it. I will most definitely buy a copy but also likely, I‘ll just return it late...

“... but you yourself refuse to consider my viewpoint, letting your emotions blind you. Look at yourself— angry, shouting... if you‘d only relax enough to see the whole continuum, life‘s pattern or lack of one, then you‘d understand my perspective. You‘re deliberately shutting out understanding, as if you‘re afraid; as if you‘re too delicate... I think you‘re avoiding something.”

I feel for Laurie and her struggles with her upbringing & identity

A couple chapters left and I‘ve been speeding through the book from where I last picked up! I don‘t want it to end. Mira Jacob has done such a splendid job writing and illustrating this book that to read at the pace I‘ve been reading is too much. I will cherish this book for all the range of emotions, thoughts, and ideas it‘s given me. My copy is currently an (overdue) library book but soon (really soon I hope) I‘ll have a personal copy of my own.

“We think our hearts break only from endings — the love gone, the rooms empty, the future unhappening as we stand ready to step into it — but what about how they can shatter in the face of what is possible?”

The search for the one is idealized, longingly craved... to feel safe, to know that a great life lies ahead with someone that “understands parts of you that you thought no one ever would, and is rumored to exist!” Are you there? ❤️✨

Finally finished this book but ultimately begrudgingly. I really had my hopes high for this one for some reason. I wanted to discover an under appreciated book but sadly it wasn‘t the case... this collection of poems simply never had consistency. I would like the love poems but then the poet would play with other themes/forms and it simply threw me off. Typically I would give a book a second chance but I don‘t think my mind will change this time..

“YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. I DON‘T CARE WHEN YOUR PARENTS CAME HERE. THEY ARE AMERICANS, TOO. DON‘T YOU EVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU‘RE NOT. DO YOU HEAR ME?”

This quote is intense and capitalized because of its urgency. It‘s necessary reminder to the younger generation that‘s just figuring out how the world works. Inclusivity>Hatred. I wish I had someone force that statement of belonging into my heart when I was younger...so much needed back then

“We scratch in dust with sticks,
dying of homesickness
for when, where, what.”

There‘s just something about the simple statements that were given that just read well and made me ponder and that for me is a start for a poem to make me interested. There‘s a Wanting, a sense of trying to relive a precious moment that I can relate and makes me think of the past and what I‘d like to relive...

“I know a name alone can‘t guarantee new opportunities, but at the very least it‘ll give her a chance to get in the room, to let other people realize she‘s someone they want to learn more about.”
-from the chapter “Emma”

On the significance of names... a couple of pages in and Acevedo‘s latest is already thought-provoking 🤔

Not sure how I‘m going to feel about this book (as it‘s not as contemporary as I‘m used to) but a poem caught my eye so here‘s to hoping the best of this poetry collection 🤞🏽🤓

“I know I exist.
Being a person is serious,
but I want to disperse
in someone‘s hands.
I want their embrace to soak
me up like a crisp sponge
and not depend on
their skin to hold
my hips in one bronze
canonical body, or scatter
my legs like we do
when we claim inheritance
among the classics.”

-from the poem, “De-colonial Love Poem”

Welcome to your new favorite poet, Sara Borjas. She definitely has made my list! I could post her poems all day...

“Never forget
where you come from, my father told me as a little girl, scared
I might pull the ladder up behind me.”

-from “My Father Imagines Winning the Lotto”

This struck a chord especially with how easy it seems for people to forget their upbringing. Success doesn‘t mean never looking back but making sure the path is clearer for those next in line.

“I fasten my earrings.
I clasp my bracelets and blood
returns to me. In my bedroom mirror,
I shine like a precious stone, emit my glint,
dress up as half-elegy for marriage
before I turn off the light, walk out,
and possibility slides back into its case,
ready, recognizable. Just like my mother,
I buy my own gifts. I play marriage
so I don‘t have to play dead.”

-from her poem “Half-Elegy for Marriage”

This is a book that I‘ve wanted since I first learned of it‘s existence. I‘m trying to get better at keeping track of who recommends what and I believe the poet Ángel García tweeted (just love when writers recommend other writers) about her book and so I learned about her poems that way. The title itself is enough to keep me thinking... After reading her poems online and reading rave reviews/interviews, I can‘t wait to read her collection entirely

“I thought of all the women my family had lost, the horrible things they‘d witnessed, the acts they endured...And soon, when the mood hit my grandmother just right, she‘d sit at her kitchen table...and she‘d tell the story of Sabrina Cordova — how men loved her too much, how little she loved herself, how in the end it killed her. The stories always ended the same, only different girls died, and I didn‘t want to hear them anymore.”

“Now think for a moment. Think of all the times you cry. Sometimes they are happy, and, sometimes they are sad. But crying is natural. Take a moment to remember the last time you cried.”
-from the short story, “Sugar Babies”

“I had finally, after more than thirty years, found a best friend who saw the best and worst parts of me, and even if I didn‘t talk about what was going on, she was there and I could have told her and it would have been fine. That‘s a powerful thing, knowing you can reveal yourself to someone. It made me want to be a better person.”

“I‘m a feminist and I believe in doing away with the rigid beauty standards that force women to conform to unrealistic ideals. I believe we should have broader definitions of beauty that include diverse body types. I believe it is so important for women to feel comfortable in their bodies, without wanting to change every single thing about their bodies to find that comfort.”

it took two years but finally reading Kristen Radtke‘s graphic novel & i am so immersed in it! this moment where she reflects on how society views ruins & the idea behind her brother‘s video game 🎮 caught my attention because i believe there are so many RPGs that w/a good storyline can bring attention to ideas through the characters the player interacts with & kids are not even aware of it until they look back & go, ohh 😮 also illustrations 💯

“after two taps I felt the

monstrosity of my putrid desires
flatten

my intrinsic knowings
suddenly afraid to bruise the small

genius
the strange foreign god of sisterhood

it was then I knew
I loved her something bad”

“It‘s not the world‘s job to understand you, it‘s your job to understand the world.”
-Camonghne Felix‘ mother

“...to be a Black poet under the smothering whiteness of the literary world is to be a miracle, who taught me to trust my voice amidst that whiteness, who gave me the references...that helped me identify that my work is a study of Blackness, a study of power...”
-what Fred Moten taught Camonghne Felix

“What is a horse? It is freedom so indomitable that it becomes useless to imprison it to serve man: it lets itself be domesticated but with a simple movement...it shows that its innermost nature is forever wild and limpid and free.

The form of the horse represents what is best in the human being. I have a horse inside me that rarely manifests itself. But when I see another horse then mine express itself. Its form speaks.“