Monday: Mailbox/What Am I Reading?

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. It has finally found a permanent  home at Mailbox Monday with the following new administrators:

Leslie of Under My Apple Tree
Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit
Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach

I received the following poetry books and CDs, thanks to the poet:

Hardheaded Weather: New and Selected Poems by Cornelius Eady:

Cornelius Eady’s new poems show him in full control of his considerable talents and displaying a rich maturity as he enters midlife. His poems are sly, unsentimental, and witty, full of truths that are intimate and profound.

Hardheaded Weather ranges widely, reflecting the new found responsibilities Eady has assumed as he transitions from urban renter to nonplussed rural homeowner, as well as the sobering influence of war and the intimation of his own mortality. Yet even at his angriest, the poet has always had a depth of compassion rare in our polarized age, with a sense of humor that is both sophisticated and demotic. These poems will resonate deeply.

As exciting as the new poems are, his selected earlier poems dazzle, too, as they demonstrate the arc of Cornelius Eady’s maturation and the originality of his voice. Taken together, Hardheaded Weatherforms a moving—and sometimes searing —testament to the power of poetry.


Book of Hooks Vol 1 by Cornelius Eady
Book of Hooks Vol 2 by Cornelius Eady

Acclaimed poet Cornelius Eady offers not only a new selection of poems, but a knockout duet of poetry and music, performed with such literary and musical luminaries as Charlie Rauh, Joy Harjo, Kim Addonizio, Robin Messing, Emma Alabaster and longtime collaborator and producer Bernie Heveron.

Like his poetry, Eady’s songs offer a collective snapshot of the culture of our times, at once exhilarating and heartbreaking, seen through a lens that spares no dark corners. Eady’s focus turns as readily from an aging movie star to poet Adrienne Rich, a bed bug epidemic in NYC, and the shooting of Trayvon Martin. As fearless as his subject matter, Eady’s sonic range and stylistic resilience weave together strains of mainline jazz, Afro-Brazilian-Caribbean beats, rock and folk traditions, in a rich love song to life.

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Hosted by Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books. We discuss the books that we've read and what we're planning to read for the week. 

I finished reading the following (7):

80. Silver Threads by Jade Kennedy (Poetry)
79. Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby (Literary Fiction)
78. The Truth Will Out by Jane Isaac (Crime Fiction)
77. Once a Duchess Elizabeth Boyce (Historical Romance)
76. Her Husband's Harlot by Grace Callaway (Historical Romance)
75. His Majesty, The Prince of Toads by Delle Jacobs (Historical Romance)

74. The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim (Literary Fiction)

I am in the midst of reading:

Unseen by John Michael Hileman 
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose by S.H. Villa 
Damnatio Memoriae by Michael Meyerhofer
ugly to start with by John Michael Cummings 

I posted reviews of the following:

Our Held Animal Breath by Kathryn Kirkpatrick (Poetry)
Dead Set by Will Carver (Crime Fiction)
The Invisible Man by H G Wells (Science Fiction)