Reviewed by Katy Scrogin The atmosphere of Joshua Harmon’s The Soft Path is heavy, hanging over a still-living landscape holding out against mechanical incursions and cheap plastics, sagging infrastructures and colonizing data streams. This three-part study stares hard at what we have become and continue to turn into, what we allow ourselves to inflict on …
When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Reviewed by Lauren Jahn When taking a birthing class, it is often recommended to pack plenty of comfort items. By preselecting loved objects, it is supposed to ease the tension of labor. Following instructions, I packed essential oils, coloring books, silly Putty, and a book about a dying man. When Breath Becomes Air accompanied me …
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Letters from Max by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo
Reviewed by Melissa Gaiti Where does a person turn when facing stress, grief, or pain? In Letters from Max, we witness connection through writings between Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo as their relationship evolves from professor and student to friends. Just as the title suggests, letters are used to tell the narrative and take readers …
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Let’s Chat with Author Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
Now let’s see who our long-time contributor Carol Smallwood had a chance to speak to this week! Smallwood is a literary reader, judge, and interviewer who recently published a poetry collection Patterns: Moments in Time. Nan Sanders Pokerwinski (NSP) was a science writer at the Detroit Free Press for more than a decade, worked as …
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Let’s Chat with Author Cendrine Marrouat
Earlier, we had the pleasure of meeting David Ellis, author and co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, a literary magazine that promotes uplifting and inspirational poetry no matter the topic. Now we get the chance to meet Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal's other co-founder, author Cendrine Marrouat. Marrouat's Walks: A Collection of Haiku is one of …
Let’s Chat with Author David Ellis
Hi, Book Smugglers! We're super excited about giving you the chance to get to know two fantastic authors this week, Cendrine Marrouat and David Ellis. They are the cofounders of Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal and will be publishing their second issue at the end of the year. The submission period closes soon! While you start …
Let’s Chat with Author Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Today we have a very special interview with author Carolyn Howard-Johnson by fellow author Carol Smallwood. Smallwood is a literary reader, judge, and interviewer who recently published a poetry collection Patterns: Moments in Time. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi-award-winning How To Do It Frugally Series for writers including USA Book News’ winner for The Frugal Book …
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The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Reviewed by Zhenbang Yu Offred is a victim of a regime that thrives on fear and lies. Since Offred has assumed the role of a handmaiden, she has experienced the horrors of witnessing their utmost cruelty the regime has imposed on her. This has led her to despise the regime for its oppressiveness towards women who …
Sun & Moon by Michel Weatherall
Reviewed by Mark Antony Rossi The trip of transcendence reaches its zenith when demolishing a stereotype and replacing old tropes with new insight. Weatherall’s poetry collection Sun & Moon is a candid examination of one’s fears and fragilities magnified by a cancer diagnosis of a loved one. How perceptions in such circumstances change and often …
The Silent G by Arpine Konyalian Grenier’s
Reviewed by Rich Murphy The Silent G, Arpine Konyalian Grenier’s fifth collection of poetry was published by Corrupt Press of Luxembourg. The collection involves the reader as though we were sitting around a séance table taking part in calling forth victims of violent historical moments. That kind of engagement with the reader is what poets …
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