"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=========

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Tanka-Poetry Reviews: WHAT THE CHICKEN KNOWS; LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY; THE IN-BETWEEN BOOKSTORE; and two others


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.

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill
Avon Books, January 2025

A magical store
transports Darby back in time --
a confusing time
before he comes out as trans.
Offering chance for a new start.

My rating: 3 stars. Audiobook.

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What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird
by Sy Montgomery
Atria Books, November 2024

We all know chickens.
Right? We think we do, but don't.
Learn all about
these intelligent with
help from Sy, past chick farmer.

My rating: 4.25 stars. Print.

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Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham
First Story, January 2024.

Fun graphic novel
by author of Dragon Hoops.
Heart-warming story-- 
fate, family, forgiveness, 
and also lion-dancing!

My rating: 4 stars. E-Book.

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Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Loren Long
Dial Books, March 2021

Someone has the dream
for buildings, bridges, and books--
 but laborers do
the work to make dreams come true.
Best Kid Lit I've read this year.

My rating: 5 stars. Print edition read with grandsons.

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The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
Vintage, 1984.


A story of Edith
who sacrificed happiness
for her family --
 then in one gesture, regains
her own freedom and future.

My rating: 3 stars. Print.


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-Anne

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