Characterisation, themes and messages conveyed are executed beautifully in this novel. With Starr, being the voice of this book, sharing her insight on the life-altering events which occur throughout this journey. Our main character’s relationships with others are demonstrated beautifully, with rapid-fire dialogue and pop-culture references, all of which I adored. Yet again, the characters are easy to love and their development and arcs throughout is done so brilliantly.
A review of Be Sincere Even When You don’t Mean It: The Memoirs of Jimmy Sizemore by Jim Flynn
Flynn’s attention to detail in describing Sizemore’s various meetings and situations is what makes the story so believable and hilarious. Always the gentleman (“I’d learned through osmosis from my father that you always compliment somebody before you turn them down”), he gets what he wants with a smile. It’s a lesson in how to conduct yourself in the most difficult situations with the most persuasive people. There are very few revered institutions and American ideals that are left unscathed by Flynn, and rightfully so.
Questions for Craig W. Gill, Director of the University Press of Mississippi, with Congratulations on the press’s 50th anniversary
They are books in which tenderness and teaching and terror are threaded through the texts. The University Press of Mississippi’s director Craig W. Gill has spoken of being able to learn about, and respond to, different subjects in any given year, as he seeks manuscripts that contribute to significant fields of study.
A review of Give a Girl Chaos by Heidi Seaborn
The book is called “Give a Girl a Chaos,” but the sub-title is “and see what she can do.” As I was reading this book, I started to hear in my mind Holly Near’s song “Fight Back,” an anthem I used to sing at rallies. Like Near, Seaborn is triumphant and resounding about women surviving chaos. She shows us that the girl who has been through chaos can catch the joy in every moment and overflow with love.
A review of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
Paolini has successfully crossed-over into the sci fi realm and it’s obvious he’s done his physics homework, utilising existing science and scientific theories in a way that would make Arthur C Clark proud. The work displays a great deal of creative ingenuity, with well-developed and interesting aliens (who are neither like ET nor like super-humans), witty spacecraft banter, all sorts of fun technologies, a super fast-paced plot line that is deeply engaging—this is an easy-read— and description that is often poetic, charged by an obvious love of astronomy.
A review of Lord of the Senses by Vikram Kolmannskog
Having been a person who grew up as Kannadiga in suburban Atlanta, I felt like I not only relived some of my own experiences of being Western and yet outside of the West, I also felt like I lived a lifetime with Vikram. This is one of the most potent powers of writing; to make the writer, and reader, through the imprint of a page, feel as if they were one.
A review of The Best of Brevity edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore
I have to restrain myself from simply summarizing some these marvelous 84 essays culled from over two decades of publishing, but as with all flash, fiction as well as nonfiction, it’s the gem-like brilliance of the individual pieces that stands out.
A review of Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
As a whole, I really enjoyed the story and setting of the text, as well as the themes being expressed, which highlight particular areas/issues in relation to modern society. On average, I don’t normally read this type of genre, GWST has altered my perspective on several things and encouraged me to seek out more sci-fi, dystopian, psychological thrillers.
An interview with Leslie Klein
Poet and artist Leslie Klein talks about her new book Driving Through Paintings, the influence of living in the northeast US, her sculpture, libraries, birds, the relationship between visual art and writing, her work-in-progress, and more.
A review of Poems of bay, beach & harbour By Margaret Owen Ruckert
The reader will encounter in Ruckert’s poems rich imagery and profound reflexions. The musicality of the tanka awaken the reader’s imagination. Going through the pages is like visiting Sydney beaches from Botany Bay to Manly, we get a glimpse of the beauty that surrounds this town.