The Firekeeper's Daughter

 

This was a pretty good young adult book. It's about a biracial Indian girl who discovers the meth problem in her tribal community. The people involved in the deceit include even people close to her. It's also about her love interest with Jamie who pretends to be a cute hockey star in the beginning. She finds he is actually an agent. At first his interest in her is fake going along with the assignment but then it develops into something. I feel like it ran out of steam by the end. I finished the book pretty quickly. It held my interest throughout. It was entertaining. 

The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes

 

I highly recommend Langston Hughes, one of the best writers to come out of the Harlem Renaissance. One of the reasons why Langston is such a good writer is the simplicity of his poetry. I'm new to poetry but it can be hard to understand at times. Langston Hughes doesn't need to be pretentious to make his poetry great. He's to the point but it doesn't feel like he's dumbing things down either. His poetry is mostly about racism, and it can be quite powerful. The only other poet I can say that was almost as good as him in this genre is Jean Toomer.  

The Prince's Progress and Other Poems

 

I read the second book of poetry that was released by Christina Rossetti, the author of the provocative "Goblin's Market." This doesn't have a poem that is as memorable as that. That's ok though because I still like Christina Rossetti's style. She had a lot of range. Despite the controversial nature of that poem most of the work in this book is about religion. I'm a religious person so I liked these poems. She is one of my favorite poets.

The Baltimore Waltz

 

Vogel's masterpiece is "How I learned to Drive" and I was curious about her older plays. The Baltimore Waltz is about AIDS. It's semi-autobiographical. Vogel's brother died of AIDS and this is about the vacation they never took. The plot is about a schoolteacher getting a virus called ATD (acquired toilet disease) which she got from her elementary school. Her brother and her take a trip to Europe. It isn't until the end we realized this has all been imaginary and that her brother has just died from AIDS. The play may be on a depressing issue, but it does have its comic moments. It's worth reading.

The Great Granny Webster

 

This book was semi-autobiographical in fact it was shortlisted by the Booker Prize but was refused because it wasn't fictitious enough. I just read a biography on Robert Lowell and Caroline Blackwood was his third wife. I read this out of curiosity not only that I love the books that New York Review Books selects. This book is about the monstrous great grandmother that Caroline lived with and also her insane grandmother. It was interesting but I wish that the book was more balanced. Caroline only says one nice thing about her great grandmother and that's towards the end. I feel there could have been more to say. 

Robert Lowell Setting the River on Fire

 

This was a good biography on the poet Robert Lowell. However, the first fifty pages or so aren't that good. The author rambles about his ancestors for far too long. I thought about giving up the book but once it got started it was pretty good. It describes the link between genius and madness very well. It also goes over his struggle over mania. As well it goes over his three marriages. I thought it was pretty cool that he married female writers specifically. Elizabeth Hardwick comes across as a saint. I got the impression that he took her for granted. I started reading Life Studies recently. I'm new to the author. Frankly I started reading this book because he came across as very likable in the Sylvia Plath biography Red Comet. 

The Shape of Thunder

 

This was an ok middle grade book about coping with death and tragedy. Cora's sister died in a school shooting in which her friend Quinn's brother was involved. The two haven't talked for a year. But the two decide that perhaps they should time travel to change the circumstances. The characters were likable and overall, the parents and the characters' reaction to the shooting is believable. I like how Quinn still manages to find love for her brother but still can't excuse his behavior. This made it on goodreads best of selection in the middle grade category. It didn't win the prize but I'm going to read more of the books that were nominated.