"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Tanka-poetry Book Reviews

Thanks to Lark Writes for giving me the inspiration to write short, poetic book reviews. Hers are called 'Haiku Reviews.' I'll make mine a little longer and call them tanka-poetry reviews. Similar to haikus, tanka poems are short, using only 31-syllables in the cadence pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7. I'm catching up here on past-due reviews.


 A Promised Land by Barack Obama
(Crown Publishing, 2020)

This audiobook
had twenty-nine hours air time,
reviewing first term
of a beloved President.
Question. Can he speak faster? 

Rating: 4 stars



The Only Woman In the Room
by Marie Benedict
(Sourcebooks Landmark, 2019)
[SOTH Book Club selection for May 2021.]

This is a novel
about Hedy Lamarr who
was very pretty
but also smart. Invented
the first GPS and more.

Rating: 3 stars




The Atlas of Happiness: The Global Secrets of How to Be Happy by Helen Russell
(Running Press Adult, 2019)

A delightful guide,
takes readers around the world
to discover how
each country expresses joy,
happiness. Thanks, Mom, for gift!
 
Rating: 3.5 stars




King and the Dragonflies
by Kacen Callender
(Scholastic Press, 2020)
[National Book Award (NBA) Winner, Children's Literature category, 2020. 
Personal NBA reading challenge.]

Louisiana
is setting for NBA 
Award winning book.
King's brother is dead.
Grief transforms his family---
friendships tough to navigate.

Rating: 4 stars


-Anne

3 comments:

  1. So clever and good! I love these tanka poem reviews; it's amazing how much you can convey in 31 syllables.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very succinct! I like the style of them but always wonder why a certain book gets a lower rating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not enough syllables to explain that. The rating, therefore serves as a "read-between-the-lines" aid. (In other words, don't read THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM. Ha!)

      Delete

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