Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book #7) by J.K. Rowling
The exciting conclusion of the series!
The first time I read this book, I had just finished reading the entirety of the series and had to wait for it to come out; I remember being a bit disappointed with it and thinking the epilogue was beyond cheesy.

This read through, I think that there are some spots that could be tightened up - the camping drama went on a long, long time - but there were also many satisfying parts of the book that made me like it overall as the conclusion of the series.

Harry has come to a place in his personal growth where he is finally ready to take on Voldemort He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; he has learned to trust his instincts, control his emotions, and allow others to help him.

I ultimately decided that Ron should survive the series (spoiler: he does!) because movie-Hermione is much more like book-Ginny than actual book-Hermione, and I wouldn’t want Harry with Hermione at all (she is a bit too up-tight and boring for Harry). Ron’s consistent problem with jealousy comes to a head when he abandons them on the camping trip, but he has some good redemption moments (and I love that Dumbledore knew this would happen and gave Ron a way to get back).

There are some characters who don’t make it, but I think at this point in the series, there have to be some sacrifices to make the danger feel real.

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
This novel was written in 1912, but I would have believed it was written this year because the style is so engaging. It is written in letters (an epistolary novel), so the chapters move along quickly. The premise is an orphan named Judy is aging out of the orphanage, but an anonymous Trustee decides to pay for her to go to college to become a writer on the condition that she write him letters to update him on her progress. She only glimpses his shadow, which had long legs, so she nicknames him Daddy-Long-Legs like the spider.

The Fixed Hours (Fernwood Press) by Kortney Garrison
I had the privilege of reading Garrison’s debut poetry collection early so I could provide a blurb -

The Fixed Hours is a contemplative collection built around poems tracing the life of the mystic Julian of Norwich. Demystifying Julian, she shows her birth, her prayer life, her arranging flowers. She interweaves poems that invite the reader to consider the spiritual elements in nature, recalling the style of Basho or Charles Wright, with lines such as the "catkins wave like prayer / flags on the far shore." Her close attention guides the reader to humble places-- where fishermen gather, at the bird feeder, in the kitchen--yet, in those places, finds a God worthy of worship.

One of my favorite poems from the collection was Jesus and Finn MacCool, which is found online HERE. Kortney is on Substack, so you can catch up with her and her writing HERE as well.

Writing Updates:
I have a few upcoming workshops still open for enrollment (The Writer’s Reset for January and the 8 Week Chapbook Shape-up)

One of my poems got this nomination for the Best Spiritual Literature anthology, and I’m excited about it.

Thanks for reading!

Hannah gathers up the children first,
then mothers and fathers, teaches them
what makes a life
grow green and strong:

Scripture, sewing, cooking meat
all the way through,

And the roots of spirit sinking down,
sinking down, into the hard, unworked soil.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

I think this book was where I originally started to think of killing off Ron (as if I have control of this already published book not written by me!) - but he does get a bit better in the next book, and, well, we do need flawed characters in every story (Hermione is awfully perfect, if you overlook the bossiness). I’ve come around, and I think Ron had to be there in some capacity otherwise Harry and Hermione would have seemed too inevitable, and Ginny really is better for him. The movie can make it a bit murky since the actors for Harry and Hermione are much cuter together than Harry/Ginny or Ron/Hermione, so perhaps that was clouding my literary judgement (another argument for never watching movie adaptations)(though I will hypocritically watch the HBO harry potter series of course!).

At this point in rereading the series, I’m pretty impressed with Rowling. She took what would have been a very cute little middle grade novel series (books 1-3) into the YA territory (books 4-7). I’ve been thinking about what has made these books so enduring and popular, despite their imperfections, and I think it is that in Harry’s Hero’s Journey we see him literally grow up into the man he needs to be to defeat You-Know-Who. I didn’t like book #5 for years, but I see it (the entire book, yes!) now as an anticlimax, where Harry realizes that the angsty, angry way of being was Not going to work if he wanted to succeed, so in book #6 he learns how to control his anger, work with his friends, follow his instincts, and it propels us into book #7, the final book.

Book #6 is still one of my favorite books, but I think that is mostly because of the emotional progression of reading them book 1 - 7 - analyzing them as standalones I think book #3 may be the best.

And does it surprise anyone that Rowling also writes crime novels? Harry is really a young wizard detective, right from the start.

Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Food by Grace Lin
We were already fans of Grace Lin (author of The Starry River of the Sky and many other wonderful books) when I picked this book up to add to our history study right now (ancient China). I thought this was going to be a recipe book, but it is actually a collection of Chinese myths and legends about food, organized like a recipe book (appetizers, soups, etc.). Each chapter is introduced by Lin to give it context for American readers and followed by several myths (watch out for the one about the monk and the eyelids and how tea came to be - a bit Grimm-ish, but there’s a warning so you won’t stumble upon it). Lin is an excellent writer and Chinese folktale and myth is her forte - I highly recommend this one.

Contemporary Catholic Poetry: An Anthology ed. by April Lindner and Ryan Wilson
I picked this up at a library book sale, and what a treasure! Whenever I read an anthology, I make a note of all the poets I especially liked, so I can look up their individual collections later and read more of their work. Well, my list kept going and going. There are 23 poets represented, all born after 1950 - Maryann Corbett, Julia Alveraz, Marie Howe, Dana Gioia and many others, some I knew and some that were new to me. A poem from the collection: How I Learned to Sweep by Julia Alveraz.

Writing Updates:
I have a new prose poem in the DMQ Review: Think of all the money we’ll save

Upcoming Workshops:
I just added a generative writing class based on Ada Limon! I’m excited about this one - sign up and end your year right.

(Also - the Writer’s Reset in January, and the 8 Week Chapbook Shape-Up in March, if you are looking for something a bit different)

"Publication is not going to change your life or solve your problems. Publication will not make you more confident or more beautiful, and it will probably not make you any richer."
- Anne Lamott

For the uninitiated, here is a quick overview of how publishing a book of poetry works:

Most poets don’t have agents (unless you are Billy Collins or James Franco and already important OR independently wealthy). The vast majority of poetry books are published via Book-Length Contests or Open Reading Periods, and even the biggest poetry press is typically a small indie or university press with only a few people running it and even less money keeping it afloat. Sending in your manuscript may happen in April, with nothing but crickets until Christmas, and the contests aren’t free - most charge $25, with the most expensive running around $35.

What do you get if you win? Maybe a $1000 prize, a few poetry readings, or free copies of the book, distribution to some indie bookstores, some universities inviting you to come give a reading.

No one will stop you on the street for an autograph - even the most famous living poet is not famous outside of poetry circles, and likely your book will be forgotten in a month or, worse, never even heard of. Ever.

Yet, the competition is steep - which makes me love Poets all the more. We are such a ridiculous, starry-eyed set!

Typical Submission Volume for Book-Length Contests

SMALL REGIONAL OR INDEPENDENT PRESS
Estimated range: 100-300 manuscripts
Winner(s): usually 1

ESTABLISHED UNIVERSITY PRESS CONTESTS
Estimated range: 300-700 manuscripts
Winner(s): usually 1

TOP-TIER NATIONAL BOOK COMPETITIONS
Estimated range: 800-1,500+ manuscripts
Winner(s): usually 1

YALE SERIES OF YOUNGER POETS
Approximately 1,000 submissions annually
Winner(s): 1

NATIONAL POETRY SERIES
Likely several thousand submissions
Winner(s): 5

In other words…

IF A CONTEST RECEIVES 500 MANUSCRIPTS:
499 manuscripts lose.
1 manuscript wins.

Odds of winning:
1 in 500
0.2%

Submit to 10 contests:
~2% chance of at least one win

Submit to 50 contests:
~9.5% chance of at least one win

Submit to 100 contests:
~18% chance of at least one win

That is assuming all manuscripts are equally good though, In a contest that receives 500 submissions, perhaps:

100 manuscripts are not yet publishable.
250 are solid but unlikely to win.
100 are genuinely strong.
40 could plausibly win another contest.
10 are exceptional.

If your manuscript falls into the "solid but unlikely to win" pile, your odds might be much worse than 1 in 500.

If your manuscript consistently reaches semifinalist, finalist, or honorable mention status, your odds may be substantially better than 1 in 500.

There are also variables such as editorial taste, guest judge preferences, what the press already has planned for their catalog - many factors you can’t predict or quantify.

The numbers can seem daunting, but, as I let my fourth-collection drift around the contest circuit, what all this tells me is that one rejection means basically nothing, that I need to be sending more places, and that I must persist.

Those numbers also remind me that every poetry book I adore came from the efforts of a poet who kept sending out their work despite the tiny odds and minuscule rewards because they believed their poems needed to find their readers.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J. K. Rowling
[SPOILERS!]
Full disclosure, I can’t even remember how many times I’ve read this entire series; at least 3x on my own, and this is my second time reading through it aloud to the kids. My first time reading it on my own, book #5 was my favorite of the series. The next 3 or so times, it was my least favorite - in fact, I hated it! However, things have changed.
I’m back to thinking Book #5 may possibly be the best one (we’ll see- book #6 has claimed the #1 spot for me for many years).

Before, when I hated this book, I thought Harry was annoying - angry all the time, blowing up at everyone, reckless and impulsive. However, this time, I read it keeping in mind that Harry literally just saw a classmate die in front of him - he experienced trauma, then was shuttled off to his uncle’s house where he is hated and neglected, and separated from all of his father figures (Sirius, Hagrid, Dumbledore).

No wonder he is angry! Instead of being guided through processing what he saw, he’s expected to stay out of the way while the Order deals with the threat of Voldemort. One telling moment in the book is when Harry gets Sirius alone at Grimmauld place to talk to him about his visions and scar pain - but Sirius, being too immature to know what to do, shrugs off what Harry is going through and literally and figuratively leaves Harry alone in the dark.

Umbridge is an excellent villain. Really, she’s worse than Voldemort and Snape combined - sickeningly sweet, on the “good guys” side, evil in an underhanded way. I love too that Rowling based her on a teacher she personally disliked.

Rowling takes the complexity up a notch with this book - Harry is 15, and deals with some normal 15 year old things (a crush on a girl, final exams) while also shouldering the burden of witnessing a death and knowing about the growing threat of Voldemort. I thought Rowling was clever to weave these together, making Harry so human and imperfect, but a hero nonetheless even when he makes mistakes.

I also thought revealing Harry’s father, James, less than humble personality in Snape’s memories added depth to the series - really, James arrogance is the entire cause of the whole mess. If he hadn’t been so egotistical, Wormtail wouldn’t have been in his crew in the first place, and certainly not his Secret Keeper; Snape wouldn’t have hated Harry because he looks like James if James hadn’t tormented Snape simply because Snape annoyed him.

If you only read the first three books of the HP series, you would assume this is truly a kids series - a little formulaic, Dumbledore always swooping in to save the day - but book 5 is a marked departure from the simplicity of the earlier books.

Will book #6 win out once again as my favorite? Yet to be seen…

For Myself :
The Disheveled Bed by Andrea Carter Brown
Brown has a way of writing poetry about everyday scenes - dinner with her parents, hiking with her husband, the Ikea bathroom - and weaving in the aftermath of trauma, how it rises up in the everyday. This book is about failed attempts at IUI and coming to terms with the idea of never having children. But it isn’t a trauma-dump mess; rather, everything is carefully crafted. You can read a few excerpts HERE

Why I Dyed My Hair Purple and other unorthodox stories by Kori Morgan
I read this slim volume of nonfiction essays on a road trip recently, and it felt like sitting down to coffee with a new friend. I could relate to her feelings of being a writer in the church - especially in the more conservative circles, other ladies don't always know what to make of a writer (unless you write devotionals or a mommy-homeschool-blog, then you are golden!).

Sometimes there are hobbies that seem to be thought of as more Christiany than others - Sewing? Yes! Reading modern poetry? Hmm …

Morgan shares openly and honestly about hurt she's experienced in the church, her conversion to Christianity, her struggles with mental and physical health, but frames it all in the context of the music and writing that speaks to her, reinterpreted through a faith perspective. (I particularly liked her application of O’Connor's Wise Blood.)

If you are interested in checking her out, she’s on substack at Peculiar Crossroads.

Writing Updates:

Workshops - I have a few spots open in my October workshop, the Language of Loss Poetry Writing, and two new workshops I’m developing for 2027: The Writer’s Reset (for any genre- starts Jan. 1) and The Chapbook Shape Up (focused on chapbook development and revision - starts March 1).

A critique is “a careful, detailed evaluation of a piece of work, a performance or an idea” - or, in this case, your friend’s play or novel or poem that they’ve slaved over for weeks before handing it over to you with rainbows in their eyes. (Websters)

Don’t panic - you can give your opinion on a piece of creative writing without being “mean” or having to write a dissertation.

Here are a few helpful questions I ask myself when I begin a critique:

1. What work is the title doing? Is it a placeholder? Is it forgettable?

2. Are there any moments in the poem where I am confused?

3. What images / lines stay with me when I am done reading the poem?

4. Does the opening line intrigue me and make me want to read more?

5. Is there anywhere in the poem where I begin to lose interest?

6. Could this poem be lineated differently? Are the line breaks doing any work to add meaning or are they distracting?

7. Is this poem in the correct order? Could an idea or stanza be moved elsewhere in the poem to achieve a different effect?

8. What do you notice with the sound - repetition, assonance, consonance, rhyme or slant rhyme?

9. What is this poem leaving out? Could the poet explore an idea further?

10. What is not essential in the poem?

Though they do take time and can be daunting to begin, if you have the opportunity to be involved with critique, you should do it.

It is one of the best ways to grow as a writer, sharpening your “editing eye” - evaluating why a piece is working or why it isn’t, seeing what is missing, what is unnecessary, thinking through how a piece of writing affects the reader.

Try those skills out on your writer friends, then put them to use in revising your own work!

I suppose it begins with the wish
for a moment
alone; then ash
across a stone floor. You are
entombed with Christ, shut up
in a room with two
windows like eyes set
to the past and future,
like mouths open to receive
mass, forgive the unseen
sins of strangers.

Here we paint rooms white
before we leave them. Outside
one window, a priest; outside
the other, a young woman,
wearing the footpath to dirt. Today
she carries pears, daisies, certain
testimonies. Tomorrow, she carries her mother.

Isn’t this what you prayed for? To burn
with visions, to suffer like God.
Specter, voice from the living grave,
are you more pure there
than the maid on the footpath, begging
penance, shut within
the anchorage
of an earthly body?

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

The Tailor Shop at the Intersection by Ahn Jaesun (trans. from Korean)
This story follows a tailor shop that was handed down through generations and still stands despite changing culture and styles in Seoul. I loved the illustrations (all brown-toned and dogs instead of people) and the story of adaptability - I caught the big kids picking this one up to read it too.

For Family Readaloud:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book #4) by J.K. Rowling
My older kids hate this one, but I’m not sure why (when I ask, they say it is “too cringe”) - in this reread, I was struck by how well Rowling accomplished foreshadowing (Bagman betting at the World Cup) and how the Triwizard Tournament displayed the qualities that make Harry our hero (he wouldn’t just take his hostage and go - he had to save all three, even if it meant he lost the challenge).

And though Harry is a self-sacrificing hero in this book (which we all love because we are created to love a self-sacrificing hero), Rowling does a good job keeping it real and relatable for kids, as we see Harry completely slack on his schoolwork and tournament tasks.

I temporarily suspend my hatred of Dobby and Ron for this book. Though Ron is a selfish, insecure git, this would be a terrible time to kill him off. And Dobby does prove useful in Task #2.

One major plot point that you have to just suspend some disbelief for - how in the world did Dumbledore not notice (SPOILER!) that Mad-Eye wasn’t actually Mad-Eye? Is that truly believable? And why did Mad-Eye help Harry learn to throw off a mind-control curse? I can get him helping Harry enough to ensure that Harry could win the Tournament and that Harry trusted him - but there was no reason for him to put all that extra effort into that class. The only thing I can think is that Barty Jr. is a complex villain - evil, yes, but interested enough in magic to still help a student who shows promise. But maybe I’m justifying this one because, overall, I liked this book better than some of the earlier ones.

Another possible detraction from the book -the info-dump monologues at the end (Voldemort, Crouch, etc.) - I think those could have been half the length.

However, I have to say, Rowling had a lot of guts to kill off a character in a children’s book!

For Myself:
The Secret History by Diane Tartt
I don’t typically read suspense / murder novels (except for my girl, Agatha, of course!), but I liked this one. Some smart nerds in grad school end up murdering people, as one does. The fact that the clique of Greek students / murderers all dress in antiquated academic-chic (tweed jackets, elbow patches, little metal rimmed glasses), brought me back to my grad school days, where it wasn't enough to be studying obscure literary paths, you had to look it.

I had never read a reverse murder mystery before - where you know who murdered who from page 1 - and to me that was the best part about this book, finding out Why they killed so and so. I think that once I found that out, the book dragged a bit (the last 3/4ths) until the end, but overall I would still say this one is worth the read, especially if you are a nerdy grad school kind of person.

Don’t do the audiobook - it is read by the author, but her female Southern twang meshes so poorly with this California academic male character, it felt incongruent and off-putting.

Kitchen Hymns by Pádraig Ó Tuama
First off, don't read this one. I listen to this poet host Poetry Unbound (a podcast of poems by various poets), so I was curious what his own work was like. Like most poetry collections, this one is broken up into sections. I liked the Kitchen Hymns sections (there are two), and the “Do you believe in God?” section (every poem in that section had that question as the title, but were wildly different poems - I am fascinated by that idea, using the same title for many poems, like an interrogation or recurring question in ones life with many different responses), but the rest of the book was meh.

I guess I should define my use of “meh” - most of the book is this back and forth between Jesus and Persephone in a garden after leaving hell. The writing is flat, lacking imagery, and honestly kind of boring. But also, from my perspective as a Christian, I don't like writing that adds words or actions to Jesus; I feel that it is disrespectful (Prov. 30:5-6, and there are other verses to support this view, if you want more on why I feel this way). So overall I can’t really recommend this book, though there are individual poems of his I liked.

Writing Updates:
I have Four Poems in the latest issue of One Art

I have several online workshops available if you’d like to join us - Sylvia Plath in August, The Language of Loss in October, and The Writer’s Reset in January.

My longing for God is a rustle of paper
in my jacket; held by the elbow,
I’m turned back toward the trial,
where once they spared me only
for being a woman.

I am learning how to watch
a body turn to ash; my children gather
around the hearth to learn the word
of God in a language anyone can speak.

From the pyre, I tell the judge
there is more than one kind of fire.
I tell him I am already burning.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

What Kind of Bird is That? By Mirra Ginsburg
I found this at a library book sale and shrieked with joy - much to my tweens embarrassment. I remember this book so vividly from childhood. A goose borrows body parts from various other birds to become the most interesting but useless bird in the world - adapted from a Russian folktale, so there's a moral at the end.

For Family Readaloud:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
This is my 2nd favorite of the Potter series - I love Lupin and Sirius as characters and the twist at the end. Lupin I think would have been nice to see more of in this series in general.

Rereading it this time, I did think the Shrieking Shack scene just went on forever-long - my dislike of Ron grew every time he pled for his rat (still looking for the best time when Rowling could have killed him off - I'm thinking book 5 or 6…)
But overall this one has one of her better plots, since it kind of had a second climax of the story (first the shrieking shack, then the Harry / Hermione fixing everything, as they do - which shows too how little Ron contributes…).

For Myself:

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged)
I read the 600 page abridged as a teen and Thought it was the unabridged - oh was I wrong! The copy I have is nearly 1500 pages, a veritable brick of a book. I like long novels, hanging out with the same cast of characters for a long time, but I can't put this book in the same class as some of my other favorite lengthy tomes (War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov…we can’t all be Russian).

It does have some interesting historical context - France had a lot going on with Napoleon in and out of power - and a complex plot, but not quite the philosophical depth that kept me riveted to my favorites. Still, there's a lot to love here - action, adventure, revenge.

Overall, if you are a grown up, read the unabridged (I felt like it gave much more depth to Dantes and made the ending more satisfying), but if you are a child or young teen, the abridged is just fine (most abridged versions cut out some of the back stories and subplots but give the overall revenge story).

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Honestly, I don't usually like epistolary novels, but letters are the whole point to this one. Sybil is a 70+ year old divorcee living alone and losing her sight; her greatest distinction is her love of letter writing, not only to friends but to favorite authors as well. It's another book with a senior citizen main character (which makes sense with our large population of Boomers - who buy books), but it is sort of nice to read a book that shows there's still a lot of possibility and excitement in life even once you are past retirement. I liked Sybil as a character - layered and complex - and Evans did a good job shifting between the different voices and writing styles of her characters. I highly recommend this one!

Writing Updates:
My class on Sylvia Plath still has some openings. Of all the classes I’ve written, this is the one I’ve researched the most because I am secretly obsessed with Plath. I don’t think we would have been friends in real life - I would have been rightfully terrified of her - but her writing is genius.

So like a man to find a use
for every part of a woman.
They cooked them on the island,
sometimes right in front of missionary huts
to tempt Christian stomachs to growl
a gospel more primal than Bible.
Pyres of smoke tasted the salt air. Canoes
could not row fast enough, shores already
blanketed with the scent of feasting.
The missionary women pled and saved five
from the mouths of their neighbors,
but, as the king said, the dead are dead
and one way or another, on the final day
we will all be consumed.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

The Mushroom of Doom by Becky Davies
This is the origin story of an evil mushroom - I thought this one was clever. It crosses just enough lines (like feeding a pineapple to the fishes for revenge). and (spoiler) I loved the ending where our mushroom main character had the chance and motivation to turn over a new leaf - and doesn’t because he likes being evil (Mwahaha).

For Family Readloud:
We did not yet finish Harry Potter Book #3 - though we did a morning time reread of both Winnie the Pooh books. Wryly funny and syntactically masterful, read these and please throw the Disney-fied picture book abominations in the trash.

For Myself:
I cheated terribly on the Count of Monte Cristo this month - if he were real, he would probably be working his way into my acquaintances and plotting to take me down. Some of what I’ve finished instead:

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis
This is a retelling of the myth of Psyche, who marries a god but isn’t allowed to see his face at night. Her ugly sister, Orual, convinces her to take a lantern to bed to see the god (Cupid), which results in Psyche becoming an exile and having to complete tasks to eventually become a goddess. The myth of course focuses on Psyche, but Lewis makes Orual the main character.

Lewis thought this was his best book. While I did admire much of the prose of the first half for its clarity and stark beauty, I prefer The Horse and His Boy, Perelandra, and A Grief Observed (in fact, this book reminded me most of my least favorite Lewis book, The Last Battle). Am I allowed to be a homeschool mom and have a Least-Favorite C.S. Lewis book, or have I spoken heresy?

I think I would have rather had it be all fiction or all philosophy; the first half reads more like a novel, while the second half is more of a theological treatise (in visions). I also hate it when plot in fiction is abandoned to vision or dream-sequence, so that may be a personal preference for me.

Truthfully, I just related to Orual too much. I felt sorry for her - earnest, confused, doing the best she can without guidance yet punished for it. It’s emphasized in the book that Orual’s great sin was her selfish, consuming love, the cause of Psyche’s downfall. Even then, I considered her a seeker, trying to understand and looking for the deeper meaning in life, only to meet, literally, a blank stone (Ungit) and an empty valley with a castle she can’t see (Psyche’s home). The god reveals himself to her cryptically, briefly, and she goes on her way. Is she ultimately punished because she wants to Know, because she seeks knowledge, confirmation?

I did like the symbolism of the lack of faces / masking and how we hide our true motivations from ourselves; I think of Orual’s veil, the faceless idol Ungit, even Orual’s extreme ugliness and Psyche’s Beauty, attributes that prevented people from seeing them as they truly were.

I couldn't see a biblical God in the story, though I think I'm supposed to (there are definite Job vibes toward the end). If Psyche is supposed to be Jesus, didn’t she fall when she brought the lantern? Is our God as silent as this book seems to think he is - what about the revelation of scripture and the natural world? To me the ending felt cruel, only allowing Orual to see her true nature and repent at the end of her life. Doesn’t God meet us right to our ugly faces?

I like that this book gave me much to think about (it would be a wonderful book to study in a class). Reason and imagination in C.S. Lewis : A study of Till We Have Faces by Peter Schakel is coming to me via interlibrary loan, and I look forward to wrestling with this book more.

Feel free to comment and share your Till We Have Faces insights! If I can stand to slog through that second half again, I’ll give it another try sometime.

The Animal is Chemical by Hadara Bar-Nadav
This poetry collection weaves together holocaust, Jewish identity, and pharmaceutical dependence. It is a bit more experimental than I typically favor - incorporating erasure poems from the warning labels of various drugs, for instance - but I admired her use of white space and lineation and the cohesiveness despite the disparate forms. Actually it is the best poetry book I have read in a while. It made me reexamine my own work-in-progress and think about where I could insert some “breath” into my poetry. (some poems from the collection can be found online HERE)

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
First, the positive - I loved the second half of this book, where Clark tied in Plath’s life to what she was writing at the time. It gave some insight into her writing process and what inspired specific poems, and analyzed the artistry of her work. I also was impressed with Plath’s ambition and work ethic - I feel like a champion when I wake up at 4:45 to get a bit of writing done in my morning routine, but Plath wrote from 4 - 8am, as a single mother with very young children. She puts me to shame!

The negative…I did the audiobook for this - it was 45 hours long. I like Sylvia Plath as much as the next person - perhaps more - but I did not care about what she ate at girl scout camp or what grades she made in elementary school. I would have preferred a 300 page condensed version of this, focusing more on her career, development as a poet, and her poetics. I thought too Clark could have gone a bit more into the mental health aspect - I think she is kind of trying to make the reader think that Plath’s depression was hereditary and inevitable - but more could have been explored there.

But my main complaint is Clark’s kid-glove handling of the monstrous Ted Hughes. I think Hughes, whether indirectly or not, murdered Plath. Actual quotes from Ted Hughes:
“I murdered her.”
”It doesn’t fall to many men to murder a genius”
(at her funeral) “It was either her or me.”
(also at her funeral) “You all hated her too, right?”

Not to mention that he wrote Plath to tell her it would be better for him if she committed suicide. And don’t get me started on how he mishandled her work after her death - destroying her novel-in-progress and current journals, rearranging and editing her manuscript to take out the parts that made him look bad, letting his sister who hated Sylvia write her biography, letting his mistress handle her work…

Yet, Clark tries to subtly manipulate the reader of this biography to think of him as a Byronic hero - comparing him to Heathcliff and Rochester, commenting on his stormy good looks and country ways, his powerful poetic “talent” and how much he suffered after Plath’s death. Oh please! I like a biography that sticks a bit more closely to the facts of what this guy actually did, rather than trying to paint it in a gothic romance light.

Plath was no Innocent - the first half of the book slogged along as she dated so and so and cheated with blah blah blah and got drunk here and etc etc etc - she was not much of a prim 1950s lady. But choosing Hughes as a husband set her on an unstoppable slide to self-destruction. I don’t think he remotely deserves the wrist-slap of being called a “Rochester.”

I think there is room for another Plath biography to be written - one that is a little less soft on Hughes, a bit more focused on Sylvia’s career as a poet, and 1/3rd the length of this one.

Writing Updates:
I’ve had some publication luck lately -
- “Recurrent Loss” in Asterales ( This journal is edited by a poet whose work I much admire, Donna Vorreyer - and they send each contributor a handmade postcard inspired by their poem - really lovely all around!)

- “The Key of Promise in Doubting Castle” was featured in The Habit Portfolio (inspired by Pilgrim’s Progress, which I had been reading to the kids at the time)

- I was a finalist for the James H. Nash contest - my poem St. Lucy Holds Her Eyes. This poem was inspired by a homeschool field trip to our local Basilica.

My online Louise Gluck generative poetry class starts this week, and I’m writing one on Sylvia Plath for August - still room to sign up!

1. Skim it.
   Read through your manuscript as fast as you can. What is your overall impression? Which poems, ideas, and images stand out?

1. First Lines.
   Read through all of the first lines of your poems. Do you use the same sentence structure or imagery or word choice in multiple poem beginnings? Where are you repeating your poet-tricks (all poets have tricks!) too often?

2. Last Lines.
   Read through all of the last lines of your poems. Just as with your first lines, do you find yourself resorting to the same means of closure over and over again? Are two poems next to each other that close in the same way (ending, for instance, on a question)?

3. Last / First Lines.
   Read through your manuscript from the last line of one poem to the first line of the next poem - just those lines (example: read the last line of poem on page 8, first line of poem on page 9). Do you see connections? Do they clash? Use this to reconsider the order of your poems in the manuscript.

4. Shape and Structure.
   Read through quickly looking at the shape of your poems. Do you have many poems with couplets grouped together, for example, and does this seem purposeful or accidental? Do you have a string of sonnets with one random villanelle thrown in? Consider if this will distract your reader.

5. Word Frequency.
   Using Wordcounter (or something similar), see which words you use the most. Obviously, a word like “and” or “the” can be used many times, but perhaps not a word like “lavender” (unless it is purposeful). What are your word crutches? Can you change some of them so it doesn’t become distracting for the reader?

6. Backwards Read.
   Read your book from last poem to first - are there any poems that should come earlier in the book? How is your understanding of the themes of your book changed when you read the book this way?

7. A Slow Read.
   I recommend doing this read through at least a few weeks after all of those other edits are complete, so you don’t go snowblind to your own writing faults, habits, and tricks. Read through it slowly, pretending it is a book by someone else. Did you like it?

It isn't obsessive if it's art.

You didn’t have a word for fishing, so how could I
explain Peter, the boats of Galilee,
their trembling grasp upon the water?
Men who trapped fish with a hook or a line,
weaving a web of lines. Your people
didn’t eat fish and knew little of the sea.
Shepherds you could understand, coaxing
hooved beasts away from thickets, ledges.
Those parables translated best.
So not with a line or a net, but a staff
I caught the misspellings, the misuse of Christ,
in the hard winters in my trailer
at the edge of a yellow wood
writing about Sin and redemption
in this untranslated language.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

Hermelin the Detective Mouse by Mini Grey
Hermelin scampers around Offley street solving problems and saving the day - anonymously (anonyMouse-ly? Ha.) but must face the facts that he is a mouse when revealing his true identity does not go very well. This is a picture book about a mouse detective - it is complex enough that my 8 year old loved it, but not a chore to read in a single sitting.

Nose to Nose by Thyra Heder
I’m not much of a dog person, but I loved this book. Toby, a new dog in town, is struggling to make friends when he finds another dog’s ball and upsets the whole dog society. The way the dogs communicate is through pee-messages left on the side walk like graffitti (“Sophie wuz here” for example). This sounds weird and gross, but it is fine and probably the best part of the book (and leads to the misunderstanding that is the catalyst for Toby). I also liked how the illustrations had a sketched look to them that matches the energy of dogs.

For Family Readaloud:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
The first three books of this series all feel distinctly lower-middle-grade to me - perfect for age 8 - 10 - lacking the darker themes that come later in the series.

Book 2 is rather closely modeled to the storyline of Book 1 - an evil is introduced, the three friends gather clues, and toward the end of the school year they embark on a quest which leaves Harry isolated to fight the main bad guy (who is revealed in the final fight)(and, once again, Harry is basically saved by Dumbledore swooping in). I am so relieved that Rowling departed from this in Book 3 - three times with the same story line would have been too much, but since we learn a lot more about the wizarding world in this book, I think she gets away with it.

I like that in this book we get to know more about the wizarding world - what life is like for a regular wizard family through Harry’s stay at the Burrow, more about Hogwarts, some of Voldemort’s backstory. Gilderoy Lockhart is so pompous in contrast to Harry’s humility, and I actually like him quite a bit as a not totally evil bad guy. I love that it gives us a deeper look at our main protagonist’s character and why he, ultimately, will be the hero. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are still innocent kids in this book, not angsty or totally aware of how much danger is yet to come.

Harry struggles with his identity - afraid that he is destined to be evil or should have been in Slytherin, and learns that whatever proclivities one may have, we still have the choice to do what is right.

My oldest three remember the first time we read through these as a family, have read themselves, and listened to the audiobooks, but they’ve enjoyed a reread; it has been so much fun to introduce the series to my two youngest though, who remember none of it!

In a conspiratorial whisper, my 8 year old told me that she thinks that Voldemort IS Slytherin’s heir - then outlines all the reasons why this would make sense. I forbade the older kids from spoiling anything for her. It reminded me why this series is so good - the world is magical in more ways than one.

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
-Dumbledore

Sidenote: I have to confess, I hate Dobby. Dobby reminds me of Star War’s Jar-Jar Binx, though slightly less annoying. I could have done without the house-elves altogether and instead explored some of the other wizarding schools, honestly.

Second Sidenote: We are reading the illustrated editions, which are delightful.

Third Sidenote: More page-time for Ginny, especially in this book, would have been better for the overall series and saved her from being such a one-dimensional character. Let her have more than three lines, Rowling!

Penultimate Sidenote: I must compliment Rowling on her absolute perfect pacing in her books. Her chapters are the exact right amount to read aloud to a child - long enough to feel like we got a good bit of story without having to read multiple chapters, but not so long that I’m wondering when readaloud time will end.

Final Sidenote: Why didn’t Dumbledore use Flu Powder at the end of Book 1 when he was “Called away” to the Ministry of Magic? Plot hole?

Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant
I got this book for free from a free-pile of books - and now I know why it was there. I typically like Cynthia Rylant (prolific children’s author. I love her Henry & Mudge young readers), but this book was boring. A dog and bat try to save squirrel babies and reunite them with their mother. The kids liked it enough that they wouldn’t let me drop it halfway through.

For Myself:
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
I’ve been reading this one for several months. Did you know Leaves of Grass is quite long? The first (self-published) book wasn’t so bad, but the one I have, one of the later editions after he had added and added to it, is a bulky 400 poems.

Some parts are great! But some not so much. For example, should anyone, poet or otherwise, use the word “promulges” this much?

"Every condition promulges not only itself, it promulges what grows after and out of itself,
And the dark hush promulges as much as any.”
(from Song of Myself, 45)

Not to hate on Whitman - his work is obviously inspired by the cadences and repetitions of Biblical poetry, notably Ecclesiastes (which I was also reading at the time - interesting pairing) and the psalms. However, instead of centering around God, he centers around himself, in a universalistic way. What a tiresome subject.

Often a famous poet will be known for one or two of their very good poems, but there is a treasury of much better poetry that no one ever reads - but in Whitman’s case, I think the well-known poems are the poems you should read.

Example to compare to the promulging going on in the last excerpt:

Song of Myself, 52
“The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds,

It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

Lovely! Well-done, Walt! And so we learn the terrible pitfall of self-publishing - lack of a ruthless editor.

(sidenote - I was recently reading Emma M. Lion, and she’s gifted Leaves of Grass by one of her many men - I wonder if the author of Lion is aware of what all is IN this book? It’s much saucier than you would think. I know Emma is supposed to be amazed and overcome with the wonderful freedom of Whitman - as the book is thought of in the public consciousness, a song to “freedom” - BUT I think if she read the whole thing she may have had different opinions...)

The Remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro

What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.
― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day

Set in England after WWII, a butler of a once upper-crust house goes on a three day road trip to visit a housekeeper that he used to work with. Told in first-person by a somewhat unreliable narrator, this is a quiet, slow-paced novel, mostly his reminiscing over his life work, the value of it, and missed opportunities. I thought the writing was beautiful, and enjoyed engaging with the ideas of what is dignity, what is the true value of one’s life work, how does one live a “good life.” Mr. Stevens, our butler, placed his work at utmost importance because of the work his employer, Lord Darlington, was doing in international affairs (attempting to help the German people after the disastrous Treaty of Versailles). However, Darlington ends up a pawn of the Nazi party and dies in disgrace, leaving Stevens to wonder if all the sacrifices he made in personal relationships was worth it (in my opinion, they weren’t).

I was particularly impressed with how Ishiguro never once let the narrative voice slip, and how he let us know Stevens’ emotions from the reactions of those around him, never through the character’s own words or introspection (an example would be that when Stevens is crying, his inner narrative is still very much proper English butler, but someone in the room is alarmed and hands him a handkerchief).

I should also say, this book is 100% clean - no foul language or sexual content - so I plan to have my kids read this one in upper high school (when a slower literary novel may be more tolerable to them), perhaps when studying the world wars.

Writing Updates:
I have some poems in recent issues of Apple Valley Review and Rabbit Room Poetry

I also have openings in my Louise Gluck Poetry Writing course that opens June 1st and my Sylvia Plath Writing Course opening August 1st if you’d like to get involved.

Your first grandchild was born in the rolling
of a ship at sea, and, born dead, was given
to the sea, a water-creature of salt and darkness.

I gave myself to Burma
even more than Adoniram.
To the straw huts, and children,
cigars jutting from their mouths,
to the lepers, skin peeling like paper,
to women I doused in muddy water,
brought up again into a new life
that looked so much like the last.

Your second grandchild was born in the hut,
beneath the Buddhist statues, beside the slow flowing
river. He lived eight months, long enough
for me to believe something
in this life is lasting.

At the end, my hair shaven,
husband in prison, my third born
daughter sailing steadily toward
death, our North Star.

I still think it worthwhile
to speak the word of God
in a new tongue, though
it burns like holy fire.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)

Nomadic in our twenties and thirties (moving 8 times, and 5 different states), I regretted my book-habit a little bit every time I was hauling boxes of books up and down stairs. Sometimes when packing up house, I would slip them in with boxes of clothes or kitchen stuff or the sharpie-scrawled “Misc.” so that the “Renee’s Books” boxes would look less than they were.

Even then, the longer I’m in a place, the more the book collection balloons, especially when the books are bought For the Children (how can I deny The Children a book?). I try to consign and donate and Reduce, but still, there’s something about having an expansive home library. Many of my books are ratty - bought simply to read, I didn’t care if a cover was missing or pages water-stained or a dog-eared beyond what is humanly reasonable. I typically buy books at Friends of the Library booksales or Goodwill or consignment stores where they are cheap.

When I was a teen, my dad used to take me out to the Chinese Sub Shop in Memphis for lunch, then we would go to the used bookstore (the good kind, where the book shelves go right up to the ceiling and you have to labyrinth through) and rummage for Doc Savage and Asimov paperbacks. I still have his collection, along with a few nice Ray Bradbury books (including a signed Illustrated Man that I bought for him a few years before he died). Not that we leave anything lasting behind truly, but I remember those afternoons with my dad, talking about books with him, his encouraging me to write; I remember all of it when I look up at the shelf of his collection that is now my collection.

Of course turning forty has left me feeling a bit ecclesiastical, and thinking of new chapters and beginnings and The Second Half (should I be so lucky) of my life. Obviously the only thing to do is start a new book collection, in addition to my smattering of poetry books and craft books and paperbacks, I’m starting a shelf of hardcover classics & poetry, allowing myself to leave the in-person bookstores with a new-to-me book in hand rather than wistfully picking up and putting back on the shelf.

I have a pretty good start on my own collection, which isn’t as sci-fi heavy as my dad’s. I want to add the rest of Jane Austen, and a nice version of Moby Dick, To the Lighthouse, Rebecca, Brothers Karamazov, War & Peace - all books that I’ve read enough times to warrant a spot. The fun will be hunting the books down and discovering them - nowadays it would be easy enough to fill up an Amazon cart and have them all on my doorstep in 2-days-shipping, but I would rather take my time with it, find a few local book-labyrinths to get lost in and find my way out, this time with something in hand.

For the Littles:

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
We are rereading this (with five kids, you have to circle back on the good books every so many years - the younger ones won’t remember them). I almost prefaced this by saying that I have four daughters so it’s important to study these women pioneers - however, I’m just as interested in my son learning about these smart ladies. So! This book has a really cool design, and what I’ve liked best is reading about one woman a day then following up with picture books (which will explain my next few choices…). There’s one for women in sports (skip for me - we aren’t much of a sporty family), and one for women in arts (I’ll buy that one for our home library).

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakeable Mathematician Sophie Germain
Sophie grew up in the 18th century, and her equations on sound vibrations made modern architecture possible. She really was unstoppable! As a child, her parents took away her candles so she wouldn’t stay up all night doing math (what!?), but they eventually gave in when they found her asleep at her desk next to a frozen bottle of ink, face down on a page of equations. She couldn’t take classes because she was a woman, so she did all the math homework via mail without ever stepping foot in a classroom - her professor eventually went to meet this guy who was getting all the math correct without coming to class, only to find that it was Sophie. I can imagine how frustrating it must have been for her, to have this incredible gift for numbers but not be allowed to fully explore it because of her culture. I admire her tenacity, and I thought this was a great example of working hard at what you love.

Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark
There are many, many books about Ada Lovelace, the first to write a computer program, but I liked the illustrations in this one, so it’s my top pick. She was the aristocratic daughter of the wild poet Lord Byron (the term “Byronic” comes from Lord Byron - "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart”) - but Lady Byron left him early on in Ada’s life, so he really didn’t play much of a role. Because of Ada’s poet father though, her mother wanted to squelch any harmful poetic tendencies inherited from Lord Byron and focused Ada’s education on math and science, unusual for women at the time (though Lady Byron was a mathematician and astronomer in her right). Ok, the book does NOT get into all of this - it focuses on Ada’s love for math, which grew after she was rendered temporarily blind and paralyzed from measles for a year. She met Charles Babbage, who invented the first computer machine and wrote the first code for a computer that could do complex calculations. I thought this was a good basic biography that emphasized Ada’s persistence and dedication to what she loved.


For Family Readaloud:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Have you heard of it?
My oldest three experienced some Potter-mania about five years ago, but my youngest two were too little to remember the audiobooks, the family readaloud times, the butter beer, the figuring out which house you belong to (Ravenclaw, obviously). So we are rereading the entire series. The books are imperfect - there are some plot holes if you think about it too long - but overall I think Rowling does a good job with creating an immersive world and characters you can root for. Except for Ron - I think she could have killed him off so Harry could end up with Hermione. But that is some books from now….

For Myself:
Limited Editions by Carole Stone
Often poetry collections that are focused on today are by poets fresh out of their MFA programs, prodigies, the up-and-coming. But there is value in reading a collection from someone with significant life experience, a perspective we can learn from. The poems are accessible (easy for anyone to read) but poignant, following the death of her husband after their long lifetime together. She grapples with her own aging, her new life living alone. But what I liked best about her writing is that it is never overdone - she is content to let you sit in that moment without pushing too hard for epiphany. This book is the culmination of a lifetime of poetic study. You can read her poem “Marriage” HERE.

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl
In a podcast interview, I heard Renkl describe this book as “pagan devotionals,” and I think that is exactly right. Not that they are of the devil, they just remind me of devotionals because they are short contemplative essays, focused on moments of nature, aging, and family history. I liked reading one or two a day.

Writing Updates:
My article Tidy Up! is on the Rabbit Room Substack - basically it’s just me being your Poetry Mom. Go clean your room!
And my poem “I was given Leviathan” is up in the latest issue of Poems for Persons of Interest
I also have a poem in the latest newsletter of Inkwell
I’m all over the place this month! I guess this is what happens when I actually send my poems out to magazines.

In other news, my Sharon Olds class starts today, Louise Gluck begins June 1st, AND I am writing a class on Sylvia Plath set to begin August 1st. I was your typical teenager reading The Bell Jar in full angst, so I’m really nerding out with the research for this class. Sign up! Still spots open, and I’d love to work with you!

“You must be a literary woman. It is so written in the book of fate,” Calvin Stowe’s reply.

Hold ink to their lips. Liken
their toes to commas, bright eyes
to colons, set within parenthesis
mouths, wide-open O’s when wailing.

Swaddle them in manuscript.
Mold them with the soft indent
of pen, of ink, jet-black as their hair.

Your characters will be their playmates,
your stories their dreams, woven
for them like any toy a mother weaves
from scrap yarn, remnant cloth.

When they taste simile and metaphor
they will be glad to have a literary mother,
glad for the sweet drip of language
over lips and tongue.

When you feel along their spines,
trace the embossing, their names
and stories, what makes them
yours and mine.

from Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023)