Poetry

I am not an avid poetry reader. But I do surf the web for amazing poems. Many of them are not contemporary poets. I find them on different sites and keep them in a word document. My topics that I collect range from death to life, happiness, heartbreak, loneliness, love, friendship, and many more. I would love to actually memorize some of my more favorite poems. But I am content with just finding them for now. I have found a large (10x13 or so) journal that I can start writing them down in. My handwriting is not the best so it'll take awhile. But these are poems I want collected in one book for myself. Maybe even put some artwork around them. I already have a spiral bound art book that has some of my favorite poems already typed up in it. Within this book I paired my collected poems with pictures I have taken over the years of nature and inanimate objects; some wildlife. I think even a person who doesn't like poetry can appreciate how poets can create a feeling in a reader through a few lines.

It would be amazing if I could write poetry. I have dabbled in it and have a few of my own poems. But they aren't really for sharing until I polish them up some more.

"Zoo" by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

This is the first book I have read by James Patterson. Eventually I will try the Alex Cross series since I have heard great reviews about it. I decided to read "Zoo" because of the commercials I saw about the miniseries and then saw it at Walmart. It was pretty much a decision of the moment book. It was very good! There isn't a lot of the plot I can talk about. To me it is along the lines of a doomsday book. Towards the end I am angry for the human race. We can be stupid as a large population and Patterson and Ledwidge show how. The book is disturbing to read; especially if you own an animal. But it moves along quickly and keeps the reading thinking about why the animals all went homicidal on humans and if we are going to figure out how to stop them before we become extinct. The authors also touch on how political forces can sway a population to go the way they want it to. All in all I would say it is worth a read. I'm not sure if I an watch the miniseries. But it would be interesting to see how they align the events with the events of the book.

Current Reading Status

I am very jealous of the number of books you have read (Brenna). I am planning on catching up soon. The little break from reading is over now. I have acquired new books, many at the suggestion of others, and from going through Half Price Books a few times recently. I have started Glory Road by Robert A Heinlein. He became a favorite of mine in the last few years. I learned about him by researching other authors that influenced one of my favorites Ray Bradbury. Heinlein's characters always intrigue me. We'll see how this book goes.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a book that interests me. Sadly, the books listed in the previous post are more my sister's taste than mine. Science fiction and fantasy of course more my reading style. But there are so many good books that I need to branch out and try reading.

Books I have read since April 1st...

The month of April has not only brought Spring showers, but it has also reawakened the library monster in Brenna!

Here is a list of what I have read:

• Annie's Song, Catherine Anderson

• Wicked Business, Janet Evanovich

• The Liar, Nora Roberts

• Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson

• The Schwa Was Here, Neal Shusterman

• Envy, Sandra Brown

• Purpose for the Pain, Renee Yohe

Here is a list of books other have lent me:

• Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
• A Crazy Little Thing Called Death, Nancy Martin
• No Way to Kill a Lady, Nancy Martin
• A Spell for Cameleon, Piers Anthony
• Best Friends Forever, Jennifer Weiner
• Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card
• Singer, Karen Casey
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Johnathan Safran Foer
• A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick
• The Taqwacores, Michael Muhammad Knight
• There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me, Brooke Shields
• Sing You Home, Jodi Picoult
• All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum

Some of the books listed above, I have had for so long I cannot remember if I read them or not. Some of them, I read halfway through and then stopped for whatever reason. As a result, my goal for May and April (once I read the other six books I have on loan from the library), is to read through these thirteen books. Hmmm... maybe I should tack July on there, as well. Someone read through this list and tell me which one to start with. 

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Kim Edwards, who also penned The Memory Keeper's Daughter, has created a compelling family story about a hidden family history. The protagonist, Lucy Jarrett, has come to a crossroads in her life and returns to her family home. Lucy does not intend to stay for very long as being in her family home brings up unresolved feelings of her father's death when she was a teenager. However, Lucy discovers seemingly benign objects locked up in a window seat and she throws herself into unearthing a history for someone in the family known as "R."

The Lake of Dreams is written with powerful female characters and provides a unique look into the suffragette movement. The art world plays a heavy hand in the novel's tale. A few members of the Jarrett family possess a gift for being able to hear the inner gears of a locking mechanism and are able to unlock it. I felt that this relates to our ability to hear our own inner workings and ask ourselves, "Can I unlock my heart?" How can we transcend our deepest pain? I cried when I finished this book and as wrapped up into a novel as I can get, I don't often cry. Edwards has tied the past with the future and illustrates the emotional journey of two strong women. You wont want to put this novel down!