Author Archives: Goddess in the Stacks

Book Review: The Poet X

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the poet xThe Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Young Adult/Poetry
357 pages
Published 2018

This is another much-hyped book – and oh man, did it stand up to the hype. Told entirely through poetry, this novel was extraordinarily powerful, and had me sobbing near the end. Xiomara is an amazing character, and her poetry shows us her emotions more than prose ever could.

I’ve always loved poetry for that reason; especially poetry that plays with formatting – spacing and line breaks and size of stanzas. It’s so much more evocative than simple paragraphs of prose. (My favorite poet is probably e.e. cummings, who is rather infamous for unusual formatting.)

Acavedo does similar things, making Xiomara’s poetry explode across the page when necessary, and ordering it into simpler stanzas in calmer moments. It’s not rhyming, even poetry; this is written slam poetry. And I love it.

Xiomara is Dominican, living in Harlem, with a very strict, religious mother. Her twin brother is gay but not out to their parents; Xiomara is fine with this but knows their mother won’t be. Her poems cover her need to protect her brother and herself, both from their parents and from the outside world. She writes about street harassment and questioning God and falling in love with a boy, which is also against her mother’s rules. Her poems are at turns heartbreaking and joyous, but always beautiful.

This is an amazing book, and is the second book on my Best of the Year list. I am blown away.

From the cover of The Poet X:

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours her frustration onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers – especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.

When she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she knows that she could never get around Mami’s rules to attend, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems. 

Because in spite of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

Sunday Stuff

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I have been really glad to have a backlog of scheduled posts this week, because my back has been A MESS. I went to the chiropractor on Friday, on the advice of my doctor, and that definitely seems to have helped. I’m not totally better yet, but I’m seeing the chiropractor again tomorrow, so hopefully I will continue to improve!

I did have a few bright spots this week – I picked my books for Book of the Month, and my Illumicrate box arrived! I should start doing an unboxing post now that I’ve decided to keep that subscription; this month is my third box. The first box had a book called The Orphanage of Gods, which I still haven’t actually read. My second box had Once & Future in it, which made me really happy, and this month’s box had Descendant of the Crane! Illumicrate likes to be coy about what book is in the box; they’ll mention the plot briefly but they almost never give up the titles. So I knew I was getting Once & Future last month, because I recognized what they said about the plot. I had no idea I was getting Descendant of the Crane this month though, so that was pretty awesome. All of the books from Illumicrate have gorgeous sprayed edges, which I adore. June’s box should have two books, one of which is going to have rainbow sprayed edges. I can’t wait!

For Book of the Month, I got to pick The Bride Test, the sequel to The Kiss Quotient, which I received through Book of the Month last year. Like The Kiss Quotient, it also has an autistic main character! In addition, since it’s my birthday this month (next Sunday!) I got to pick an extra book. I’ve heard a lot about The Library Book, so I added that to my box. You know I love reading books about books!

In addition to that, yesterday was the birthday party of one of my dear friends, so I got to go over and play board games and eat delicious lasagna. (My husband made her homemade lasagna for her birthday, and he made me a special gluten- and nightshade-free one!)

Book Review: Empire of Sand

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empire of sandEmpire of Sand
by Tasha Suri
Fantasy
432 pages
Published November 2018

This is one of my reads for the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge. It follows Mehr, a half-Amrithi, half-Ambhan girl who refuses to let anyone erase her Amrithi heritage, even if the Empire oppresses the Amrithi tribes horribly. When her gift manifests, the Empire comes for her, and she learns the horrible truth behind the Empire’s longevity. Most empires inevitably reach a point where they can expand no longer, and gradually decline. This Empire has not done that, and the Amrithi pay for it with their blood. Along the way, she finds a daiva willing to bargain with her, and an Amrithi man bound by his vows but trying to circumvent them for her sake.

I really liked the magic in this book, and just the world-building in general. Mehr is a strong-willed character, and shows character growth in the book, transforming from the pampered daughter of a governor to a woman willing to fight and die for her beliefs and those she loves.

The sequel, Realm of Ash, appears to follow Mehr’s younger sister, which makes sense, as Mehr’s book seems pretty self-contained. You could easily just read the first book and be perfectly happy at the ending, but I’m quite happy to see there’s more written in this world. I am eager to see what happens after the events of the first book. It’s coming out in November, so I’ll have to make a note to myself to remember it exists!

From the cover of Empire of Sand:

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended from desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember but whose face and magic she has inherited: She can manipulate the dreams of the gods to alter the shape of the world.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda – and should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance . . . .

Friday 56 – Empire of Sand

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empire of sandThe Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. The rules are simple – turn to page 56 in your current read (or 56% in your e-reader) and post a few non-spoilery sentences.

This week’s quote is from Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, a book I’m reading for the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge.

“I allowed your mother to keep her customs,” her father acknowledged. “But in raising you as I have, I have kept mine. Make no mistake, Mehr: You are my daughter. You have been raised in my household, fed with my food, clothed from my coffers. You are your mother’s daughter . . .” He faltered. “But you are also mine. And half your blood is Ambhan, noble and strong.”

Book Review: Warrior Women

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warrior womenWarrior Women
Edited by Paula Guran
Anthology/Science Fiction/Fantasy/Military Fiction
375 pages
Published 2015

This is an older anthology, but I recognized a lot of the authors in it, and I was excited to see a sci-fi anthology centered on war but starring women. The book is divided into five sections; Swords (& Spears & Arrows & Axes) and Sorcery focuses on the more standard fantasy warriors – knights, and mages, and the like in fantasy worlds. The next section, Just Yesterday & Perhaps Just Beyond Tomorrow, is closer to contemporary fiction, with a story set during WWII, and a drone pilot, and then an alien invasion of Earth. Somewhere Between Myth & Possibility is like a combination of sci-fi and fantasy; there are space ships and alternate dimensions and witches. The fourth section is Space Aria, and it is what it sounds like – space opera. Pretty straight sci-fi. It’s the fifth section that has the most thought-provoking pieces. Will No War End All War? centers stories about the cost of war. And it’s a little depressing, to be honest. It’s a heavy topic, so that’s unsurprising, but it left me in a low emotional place when I shut the book.

Warrior Women is a really interesting book, with twenty-four different stories examining different aspects of war. Some stories are told by soldiers, some by scientists, some by commanders, some by the sisters and daughters of soldiers. The book does a really good job of examining the subject from all angles. I am eager to see what my husband, as a former Marine, thinks of the book. I can’t say that I enjoyed the book, exactly, but it gave me a LOT to think about. And books that do that are just as important as escapist fantasy.

From the cover of Warrior Women:

From fantastic legends and science fictional futures come compelling tales of powerful women – or those who discover strength they did not know they possessed – who fight because they must, for what they believe in, for those they love, to simply survive, or who glory in battle itself. Fierce or fearful, they are courageous and honorable – occasionally unscrupulous and tainted – but all warriors worthy of the name!

Library Loot Wednesday

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So. I…may have gone overboard this week. I may have checked out seven books without turning anything in. Whoops!

 

 

 

So these two are because I checked out Greywalker last week – Poltergeist is book 2, and Mean Streets has a short story that lands between books 3 and 4. Book 3 is only available as an ebook, so I’ll check that out when I finish Poltergeist.

 

 

 

I checked out two nonfiction books this week, both about climate change. The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, and Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.

 

 

 

The last three books are a little more random – I finally got my hands on And I Darken. It made a huge splash on the internet, and one of my personal friends highly recommended it. The other two were spotlighted on Book Riot somewhere – Frankenstein in Baghdad, in which someone accidentally puts together a Frankenstein monster in, well, Baghdad, during the war, and The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love, which should be a little lighter fare.