This book. Where to begin. First I’ll say that when I think of literature as an art form, I find this book extremely effective. If you look at any form of art (including literature) as aiming to make you feel or experience something then this really does it. The story revolves around an obsessive man named Konrad who lives in an old mine and wants to write a volume on hearing/the human ear but he can never seem to start writing. The book opens with locals in the neighborhood tavern chatting about how Konrad murdered his disabled wife. It’s a striking opening and the entire novel the reader will follow the jumbled thoughts of multiple people, interlaced fluidly, to find a motive to the murder. The aimless and bizarre style of writing makes the reader feel as though they are going insane (as Konrad is) so as art I find this novel wonderful. However, as just a “novel” it is difficult to push through. The writing style is so odd it becomes cumbersome and the constant repetition of obsessive sentences makes the reader dizzy. However, if you love a challenge or are interested in stream of consciousness pieces, I would still recommend it.

This book is dense, references many historical/ politics events, and has a massively oversized cast of characters- and it’s great. Rushdie describes things poignantly and beautifully and he constantly makes the reader confuse fairy tale for reality. The imagery is gorgeous and various ethical questions concerning shame, violence, and sexism come up again and again. The negative for me was simply that I don’t know enough about Pakistani history nor politics to fully enjoy this book. However, it still left a lasting impression on me and I’m sure I won’t forget it. If you are interested in magical realism, Islam, Pakistani history, Pakistani culture, sexism, ethics, mental disabilities, motherhood, or surrealism then you will probably enjoy this book.

So freakishly cute I almost died! It has great art and is generally pleasing in every way. It’s a nice touch that it has both queer and disabled representation, as well as a variety of body types/ shapes. I would recommend this for both children and adults that love cute fantasy art.

Mary Oliver is a very famous and well respected poet and while I love her instructional work on writing, this poetry collection didn’t wow me. I read the book in an hour or so as all the poems were quite short. They were not clichéd or “bad” in any way, it’s simply that these poems aren’t for me. I prefer highly narrative poems, usually ones about specific life events or moments involving people. These poems were very heavy on imagery and nature scenes. Again they weren’t bad, just not my thing. If you like poems about nature or God or very short poems almost in the vein of the haiku or Rumi then you might like these. I must admit that I loved “Do the Trees Speak”- it was so well written that I couldn’t help but love it, despite being underwhelmed by some of the others.

What to say, what to say... well the writing was lackluster. Plenty of oddly-phrases sentences and using the incorrect form of “blond/blonde” etc. The characters were predominantly common stereotypes found in mysteries- hardworking detective, loving mother, etc so I can’t say the characters are great. However, the plot was fast moving, which I enjoyed. It was a fast read and I finished it in a single day. I would note that the book uses a mental disorder as a very lazy excuse for a pivotal plot point which really brought the whole experience down for me quite a lot. What I will say is that I’ve never read a thriller about a missing baby so it was fairly unique in that regard (most revolve around a teenager or adults only).

This graphic novel was great. It struck me as an instant classic in a way- the wording, the simplicity, and the unique style make it seem like it would appeal to a variety of people. The story was a pleasant tale on appreciating imperfections and the layout was absolutely phenomenal. I really thought they were going somewhere with the whole “what does my company really do” remark but, since It didn’t lead anywhere and seemed like a loose plot thread, I removed just one star. Wonderfully written, quirky book.

These poems, while clearly of a high caliber, were a tad underwhelming for me, personally. Many of the poems are all about war, though you wouldn’t guess it by the books cover. Overall, I feel the war poems were much better than those not about war as the imagery they provide is more striking. The poem “Lady Justice” seemed weak overall, using predictable words and having an overall lack of ambience. However, the poem “Enhances Interrogation Techniques #4” was very evocative, describing both “ding dongs” and torture in a way that makes one question a whole host of beliefs and practices. A big negative for me that took away a whole star from my rating was the use of the word “she male” which is not only offensive but it simply wasn’t necessary in the poem in which it was used. What’s more, this book came out in 2017 so it’s recent enough to have likely known better.