Sperber presents an illustrated poetry collection dedicated to life’s small beauties and the Southwestern landscape.
This collection of poems alternates between reflections on a well-lived life and love letters to the New Mexico environs the author inhabits, noting “rolling sagebrush” (“Blue Dawn”), a “coyote by the mailbox” (“Heartbeat Behind the Glass”), and the scent of “mint and sweet grass” (“A Small Love, Obviously Wild”). Each poem offers a meditation on the precious elements of life that commonly go unacknowledged. In “Gears of the Night,” the speaker moves away from the clichés of Christmas Eve to focus on the nonhuman lives that thrum onward, oblivious, as when a tiny creature achieves a quiet, detailed triumph: “There was a snail working / his way up a drainpipe. / He’d stopped and rested some hours, / his slime hardening on the corrugated metal. / With no fanfare at all, / he returned to his journey up the pipe.” “Blue Dawn” unexpectedly locates sublime beauty in a routine desert commute to the office, where the speaker and her co-workers must “sit like computer chips before [their] monitors.” Other poems are rich with concise and grounded wisdom, such as the speaker’s observation that “some parts of us / are just dreams / it’s time to wake from” (“Wake Up!”). These verses identify microscopic aspects of life, magnifying them until they become something brilliant; the world the author brings into focus is stunning. A steady sense of optimism underlies each poem, unburdened by unrealistic or fantastical expectations for life. Sperber’s intricate drawings accompany the poems, providing a deeper look into the simple beauties that motivate her work. By the end of the book, the author has made her message abundantly clear: “We own so little, really,” the title poem reminds us, and yet everything is possible.
A mature, uplifting, and wise group of poems.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022
ISBN: 9781956056631
Page Count: 90
Publisher: Shanti Arts LLC
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: LITERARY FICTION | GENERAL FICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.
39
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Exes pretend they’re still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation.
Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple—until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand. They’ve been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. So they keep it a secret from their friends and families—in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident. She’s ready for a vacation at her happy place—the Maine cottage she and her friends visit every summer. But (surprise!) Wyn is there too, and he and Harriet have to share a (very romantic) room and a bed. Telling the truth about their breakup is out of the question, because the cottage is up for sale, and this is the group’s last hurrah. Determined to make sure everyone has the perfect last trip, Harriet and Wyn resolve to fake their relationship for the week. The problem with this plan, of course, is that Harriet still has major feelings for Wyn—feelings that only get stronger as they pretend to be blissfully in love. As always, Henry’s dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet’s relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions.
A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593441275
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Categories: ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL FICTION
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Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
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The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Categories: ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL FICTION
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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