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 call these reviews tanka-poetry but the books I am reviewing are not specifically poetry books.
I am way behind on my book reviews so these tanka-reviews are for the books I don't plan on reviewing more fully.
WITH MY BACK TO THE WORLD: POEMS by Victoria Chang
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024
A collection of
poems themed around art
by OBIT poet.
Agnes Martin's art the muse,
but depression is the foil.
My rating: 4 stars; print.
LISETTE'S LIST by Susan Vreeland
Random House, 2014.
Set in Provence, France
Laborer collects art by
three impressionists --
Cezanne, Pisarro, Chagall.
Grandson hides art from Nazis.
My rating 3.5 stars, print
STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL by Charlotte Wood
Riverside Books, 2025.
A powerful book
about a woman whose grief
so raw, she withdrew
from her life to an abbey,
seeking forgiveness, solace.
My rating 4 stars, audio.
