A heartfelt and resonant collection of poetry.
A volume of poems focused on nature and humanity.
Allen explores geography, emotions, and family in this collection. In the opening poem, the Vermont-based author luxuriates in nature, admiring birds, while others attempt to photograph the sunset over Lake Champlain. A musical ode to the Green Mountain State inspires the speaker and her friends to dance and rejoice, “united in the knowledge of the gift we call home.” She and a companion hunt for wild onions in “Foraging.” “Open Water” describes a meet-cute scene in a pet store. A June-themed poem recalls the youthful joy of bike rides, rope bracelets, and snow cones during the “season of endless possibility.” Later, relaxing after a hike, the speaker predicts that “someday I will wish / to be back in this moment.” After recounting a sweet memory of her mother in “Krummholz,” she realizes “there’s no one left now / to love me that way.” As a mother herself, she finds refuge in a greenhouse while her daughter spends eight days in a hospital, “under fluorescent lights / and heated blankets, / working on not dying.” Later, the speaker details the “synchronous / solitary vigils” of the other parents in the children’s hospital family lounge. In another poem, she observes her daughter at the age of 15, trying to reconcile the many “versions of you.” Allen’s descriptions and insights are awe-inspiring. Her lively language will grab readers’ attention in lines like “the screen door smacked a goodbye” and “the fireplace / hummed orange”; they’ll easily envision the “twisted persistent trees” and the “black fly heat” the poet describes. Though the book itself is slim, the poems are weighty with emotion. Describing the unique pain of losing a sibling in “Brotherhood of the Brotherless,” Allen writes: “There should be an asterisk / on everything that comes after.” There’s also a discreet sensuality in lines like “I lifted the covers and slid in beside you / my chilled limbs seeking yours.” But “Hope Is a Voice,” a piece for poet Amanda Gorman, feels out of place in this work.
A heartfelt and resonant collection of poetry.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781578691906
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rootstock Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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