Well, here we are, possibly at the bitter end of the American experiment, still reading books made out of paper, but for how much longer? Hopefully we'll manage to smuggle books into Musk's forced labor camps. On that cheerful note, here's what I read last month:
Fiction Mattaponi Queen by Belle Boggs. I'm writing about Boggs's nonfiction book, The Art of Waiting, (which, now that I think about it should also be on this stack, because I reread it last month as well), and wanted to get a taste of her fiction. I really enjoyed the stories that make up Mattaponi Queen--which is a series of linked stories whose characters overlap in various ways in this small, rural community in the southeast (I'm gonna say Virginia?). The characters were interesting and charming, and the stories were satisfying in a way that short stories often aren't. While Christmas shopping, I came across this fat collection of the first three (of four) Jacqueline Kirby novels by Elizabeth Peters: The Seventh Sinner, The Murders of Richard III, and Die for Love. These are wildly entertaining murder mysteries with university librarian (turned romance novelist in later books) and amateur sleuth Jacqueline Kirby as the main character (who also happens to be one of the rare middle aged mothers of grown children who get to also be glamorous protagonists). All three books involve small, insular groups of particularly wacky characters: foreign students with art or archaeology fellowships in Rome; a society devoted to clearing Richard III of the murders of his nephews; and romance novelists and their fans. The first two have the clever device of being written from the POV of a secondary character; the third one hops around among Jacqueline's POV and that of at least two other characters in a jarring fashion. The third book also starts out with an exceptionally outrageous premise and very kooky characters, so I was prepared to not enjoy it, but it comes around over time (or one gets used to the weird cast of unbelievable people). Nonfiction I just happened to pick up How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell because it was shelved next to a book I was actually looking for at the bookstore. I was surprised by how little of a how-to it was, considering the title (I guess maybe we don't need to be told how to just chill, though maybe we do?). It was, in fact, a lot of philosophical musing on American culture, which I found interesting if a little slow at times. That being said, it's an excellent book for these times, considering how the way we've handed over our attention to some of the worst people on earth over the last 20 years, making them extraordinarily wealthy (through both advertising and monetizing our data) and putting them in position to destroy democracy. Unrelated to any specific advice from the book (of which there's very little), I've done a number of things to withdraw my attention from the corporate overlords most directly responsible fore or collaborative with the current coup d'etat in Washington:
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I'll be teaching three different nature poetry or nature journaling workshops over the next couple of months in Jefferson and Augusta:
Writing the Weather, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, ME, February 15, 2025 We never know what to expect of the weather in February--from deep freeze and heavy snows to an early thaw and springlike breezes, the month can bring almost any kind of weather. In this nature writing workshop, we'll take inspiration from whatever the sky gives us and, through a combination of word play, visualization, and making metaphors, we'll generate poems that invoke, personify, and celebrate the weather in its many different guises. We'll alternate among standing group exercises, sitting to write, and walking around to get our blood flowing, so please dress appropriately for staying warm outside, and consider bringing an insulated pad to sit on. Journaling Backyard Birds, Viles Arboretum, Augusta, ME, April 1, 8, 15, and 22 Amy Tan’s delightful book The Backyard Bird Chronicles demonstrates how careful observation and recording of the activities of the feathered visitors to our yards and feeders can turn these mysterious wild creatures into familiar friends, each with its own story to tell. Join us for a creative and inspiring workshop that combines birdwatching, writing, and art to deepen your connection to nature. In this four-session workshop, we’ll read and discuss select passages from The Backyard Bird Chronicles and use these as inspiration to create illustrated journals of our own bird observations. Through in-class lessons and take-home exercises, participants will:
Poetry is for the Birds, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, ME, April 5, 2025 Birds have long been a source of inspiration to poets around the world. With April marking the beginning of bird migration season in Maine, what better time to explore our feathered friends through poetry of our own? In this workshop, we'll walk into HVNC, looking and listening for birds. We'll talk about birds as symbols, metaphors, and poetic subjects in their own right; look at examples of bird poetry; and use the ideas and images we've gathered to create poems about the birds we encounter--or imagine--while in the nature center. Be sure to dress for the weather, including periods of sitting still outdoors, and consider bringing an insulated pad to sit on. Click on the titles above to register (keep an eye on my Workshops page for a link to the April HVNC workshop, which should be available in the next few weeks). Both HVNC workshops are free! The Arboretum one is $100 for all four weeks. Hope to see you there! |
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Andrea E. Lani. All rights reserved. |