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Musing Mondays asks you to muse about something related to reading/books each week…...
As most know, I am a poet and avid reader of poetry. I can read all kinds of poetry. Today I will discuss a poetry book where the author has taken ten poems by well known poets. Reading these poems help us letting go. That is what Roger Housdon has detailed here.
ten poems to say goodbye by Roger Housden covers 10 poems by well known poets which are steeped in spirituality.
Each of the ten poems is followed by an essay where he analyses the poem, explaining its importance and meaning. The poems tell us how to go about saying goodbye. With our mind, heart and soul.
My favourite poems in the book are "The Lost Hotels of Paris" by Jack Gilbert and "How It Will Happen, When" by Dorianne Laux. There are poems by Ellen Bass, Gerald Stern, Rilke, and few others which make such a pleasurable read. The explanation by Housdon at the end of each poem takes us to another world.
I quote from the closing lines of Jack Gilbert's poem:
". . . We see the memory
of when they were, once upon a time.
And that too is more than enough."
If that isn't goodbye then what is?
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Catching up with my 2013 Reviews....
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.
My birthday was on 22 March but there had been no celebration. My young friend, Sanchita came over to my place on 25 March with a cake and flowers. We went out to the nearest McDonald's along with mom and Sanchita's 5 year old son. We were only four people but we had fun. Posting pictures....
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| THE cake! |
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| Flowers, cake and moi! |
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| Mom, the BOY, Moi |
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| Moi, mom, Sanchita |
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| Best foot forward! |
“You cannot seek love, you cannot consciously decide to love. Instead love finds you and pierces your heart before you even realize what’s happening.”
~~~Posted for The Friday 56, which is hosted by Freda's Voice
Scandal's Child by Sherrill Bodine
"I mean, it's a lot to deal with, I know. I killed a man."
"You killed a Nazi," he corrects me. "To save your best friend."
"Sometimes it doesn't feel like that." I burst into tears.
Title: The Diplomat's Wife
Author: Pam Jenoff
ISBN: 9780778325123
Publisher: Mira Books/2008
Pages: 360
The Diplomat's Wife is a follow-up novel of The Kommandant's Girl. The war is over and Marta Nedermann is trying to pick up the pieces. Paul, an American Soldier has come to free her from the prison. They fall for each other, plan to meet in London, and then get married to each other. However, Paul dies before they can meet and Marta marries a diplomat when she discovers she is pregnant.
Her marriage is comfortable if not passionate. Two years later, there are more political changes. Communist loyalists have infiltrated British intelligence and there is one person in Marta's past who can help identify them. Marta goes back revisit her past and meets a few presumed to be dead. Her life is changed after that.
This novel speaks of times after the war, in the time of peace. People find it hard to find love and difficult to adjust. The bodies might have healed but minds and emotions still are in a limbo. I found that the novel glossed over at times and did not cover the real hardships although it touched the issues. There are surprises but that didn't do much for the novel. It covered the period after the WWII and that redeems it.
"Would you be kind enough to tell me where they keep people's bodies," I said.
The porter blinked. The edges of his eyelids were pink in a brown face, lashes sparse and painful-looking like the bristles on a gooseberry. Odd the things you notice when your mind's trying to shy away from a large thing.
Title: A Foreign Affair
Author: Caro Peacock
ISBN: 9780061445897
Publisher: Avon/2008
Pages: 331
1837. England now has new queen, eighteen year old Victoria. Our heroine Liberty Lane has just lost her father, supposedly in a duel. Liberty does not believe it. She tries to follow trails leading to her father's death but find obstacles at every step. She is contacted by secret agents and is asked to pose as a governess in the Mandeville Hall. She has to spy on Sir Herbert Mandeville who is planning overthrow the new queen.
Libby is more concerned about finding her father's killer. Therefore, she agrees to the subterfuge. And falls right in the midst of conspiracies, horses, spies, duels and elopement.
I enjoyed the dialogues, the ridiculous characters, misplaced plots and Liberty's quirky way of thinking. There is not a single dull moment. Justice comes in the end and how. That is fun part of it. Liberty Lane is a wonderful character and I really loved Amos Legge, a giant of a man with heart of gold. Such a rollicking ride in a mystery/suspense novel in 19th century England. I am gonna pick the next two Liberty Lane novels.
Armed with Buddhist philosophy and wicked knife skills, Bai Jiang works at being a better person by following her conscience, while struggling with what she likes to think of as "aggressive assertiveness."
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.
My birthday today! A friend came over!
'She's been watching us for a while now.'
'Go on, Tom.'
'Sometimes it's like she's always there, behind a pile of stones, in the shadow at the bottom of the tower, under one of the old graves. She's good at hiding.'
'She must be."
'Sometimes she gets very close, before you have any idea. You'll be thinking about something else when one of her voices jumps out at you and, for a second, she catches you out. She really makes you think it's your brother, or your mum, hiding around the corner.'
Did you, for example, reread more as a child and your access to new books was limited by how often you could convince your mother to take you to the library? Has the economy affected your access so that you’re forced to reread more often now? Have you grown to look at old books as old friends so that you’re happy to spend time with them rather than rushing the next new thing?
I seldom reread now. There are too many books to read and too less time. I prefer to read new books rather than visiting old ones. But there are times when I go back to reread a favourite page or two!!
He was not going to kill her immediately. No—if there was one thing he had learned, it was to savor the moment, to be deliberate and purposeful. Like a predator in the wild, he would waste no energy. He needed to be careful, efficient, and resourceful. And above all, he needed to be patient.
