Tanka 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.

The Red Notebook

 by Antoine Laurain, translated from French by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce

2014.

A man finds a purse. 

He searches for its owner.

Only clue: notebook.

He finds her apartment but

where is she? Sweet love story.

My rating: 4 stars

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The Raven Boys: A Graphic Novel

by Maggie Stiefvater, adapted by Stephanie Williams, illustrated by Sas Milledge

2025.

A popular book.

One I liked a lot, redone.

Now graphic novel.

Many details shortened up,

Leaving me wishing for more.

My rating: 3 stars

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Brokeback Mountain 

by Annie Proulx

1997.

Reread short story.

Two ranch hands, Ennis and Jack,

Come together one summer.

Their relationship is doomed.

Men in love? Impossible. 

My rating: 5 stars

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And Yet: Poems

by Kate Baer

2022.

Poems about life, 

mothering, exhaustion.

I met this poet

through book: Hope This Finds You Well.

This collection very good.

My rating: 5 stars

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Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer 

edited by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

2024

Big, heavy art book.

Kennedy doesn't think of

himself as artist

but a printer of posters --

Black experiences in America.

My rating: 4 stars

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-Anne

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 bird 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: 4.5 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

Tanka-poetry reviews: Stone Yard Devotional; Lisette's List; With My Back to the World

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

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.

-Anne

Tanka-poetry 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 call these reviews tanka-poetry but the books I am reviewing are not specifically poetry books.

 I am back from a two week vacation which involved much driving. That gave us a chance to listen to several audiobooks. Pool-side time allowed me to complete several other books. These tanka-reviews are for the books I don't plan on reviewing more fully.

 

Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven

 Speigel and Grau, 2021 

A wild fox befriends

a lonely naturalist.

This memoir recounts

details of their unusual 

friendship. Very surprising.

 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars; audio.

 

 

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

William Morrow, 2009. Originally published in 1930.

Agatha Christie,

queen of suspense, introduces

us to Miss Marple.

Murder is solved after a

few false starts and red-herrings. 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars; e-book.

The Return of Jeeves: A Jeeves and Bertie Novel by P.G. Wodehouse

Perennial Library, 1985; first published in 1953

Humorist writer,

P.G. Wodehouse pokes fun at

aristocrats and

monied folks. Jeeves, the butler,

serves with straight face. Funny. 

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars, print.

A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and Celebration, Collected by Father Tim by Jan Karon

Penguin, 2006

Inspiring quotes,

scriptures, and thoughtful phrases, 

compiled by Father Tim,

a character in Karon's book.

I used to collect the same.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars, print.

Remarkable Trees of the World by Thomas Markham

W.W. Norton and Company, 2003

We visited big trees

in Kings Canyon National Park.

Returning back home

it was a perfect time to 

read about trees of the world.

My rating: 5 out of 5, reread, print.

-Anne

Tanka-poetry 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 call these reviews tanka-poetry but the books I am reviewing are not specifically poetry books.

 

 Musical Tables: Poems by Billy Collins 

Random House, 2022.

This new collection

is chock full of small poems --

My favorite kind.

Most are funny or poignant.

All made me laugh or smile.

 

Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Banned Books: The World's Most Controversial Books, Past and Present

D.K. Publishing, 2022.

Title says it all --

banned books throughout the ages.

I've read almost half.

My favorite parts were quotes

by authors, impacts us all.

 

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

The Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti

Macmillan Collector's Library, 2022, first published in 1862.

 

The foremost female

poet of her time. "Goblin

Market" is a weird

and ghoulish poem. So cool.

The others are not so good.

Rating 3 out of 5 stars.

 

Prairie Reunion by Barbara Scot

Riverhead Books, 1995.

A woman goes back

for bittersweet homecoming.

Tries to understand

why her father abandoned

family when she was young.

 

Rating 2 out of 5 stars.

 

 

The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan

Scribner, 2014.

 

Marina Keegan

Died days after her college

graduation. Sad

family and friends compiled

her stories for this book.

 

Rating 3 out of 5 stars.  

When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Amazon Publishing, 2013.

Child buried alive.

Man rescues him, nick of time.

Then spends rest of life

rescuing the boy from more

disastrous decisions.

 

3 out of 5 stars.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Duke Classics, 2012, originally published in 1920.

Debuting Poirot,

the famous Christie P.I.

Was death a murder?

Was it poison? Who did it?

We all know by end of book.

 

3.5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

-Anne

Tanka-poetry 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. Almost all of the books reviewed here are actually poetry books themselves.

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth

(Candlewick Press, 2017)

 

Out of gratitude

for the joys of poetry,

poets write poems

in the style of admired

poets. Results -- magical.

5 stars

Two samples:

"How to Write a Poem" celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye by Kwame Alexander

"Hue and Cry" celebrating Gwendolyn Brooks by Kwame Alexander

Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds edited by Billy Collins

(Columbia University Press 2010)

 

Part poetry book,

Part field guide and art book,

Celebrates all birds.

Illustrations way better

than the poems.  A pity.

3 stars

Note: my favorite poem of the bunch was one mentioned by Collins in the preface: "The Swan at Edgewater Park" by Ruth Schwartz

 

O's Little Book of Happiness by the editors of O. The Oprah Magazine

(Flatiron Books, 2015)

A sprinkling of

advice and a bounty of

exuberant tales

by great writers that appeared

in magazine over years.

3 stars

Patriarchy Blues: Poems by Rena Priest

(Moonpath Press, 2017)

Poet Laureate 

for Washington State, Priest writes

poems about love,

lust, and loss. She watches

and records her thoughts for us. 

4 stars

From the poem "The Encyclopedia Britannica, Sunshine, A Mosquito" by Priest

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman

(Viking Books for Young Readers, 2021)

In this quite stirring,

lyrical book, Amanda

Gorman's poem calls

 out: “I can hear change humming
In its loudest, proudest song."

 

5 stars

Note: Shout out to the illustrator Loren Long, too. Sample:

-Anne

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.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

(Vintage, 2006; originally published in 1925)

 

Love-starved Kitty Fane

Lives in Hong Kong with husband.

After an affair,

they move to cholera zone.

She learns to love and forgive. 

4 stars

The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor

(Kokila, 2021)

A graphic novel.

Mei re-imagines the myths

Of Paul Bunyan, starred

By a Chinese heroine.

Set in logging camp of old.

 

3.5 stars

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

(Custom House, 2021)

Coming-of-age tale,

'70s in Baltimore.

Mary Jane nannies.

Family hiding rock star.

Summer changes young girl's life.

3 stars

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

(Macmillian, 1969; originally published in 1951)

The four Pevensie

kids return to Narnia.

Meet Caspian, fight Miraz,

Restore order and magic

Helped by Aslan the Lion.

4 stars

2nd book in series

-Anne