If you are a fan of the Humans of New York blog or books, pick this one up. If you are a girl, woman, or have one of those in your life, pick this one up.
It will do your heart good to flip though this collection of photos and quotes from girls. The photos are beautiful, and some of the quotes make me stop in my tracks, look at the girl, and then re-read it. I have a complaint though, and it's not a minor one. This is a collection of mostly white, thin, athletic girls, and there are many who will not find themselves represented here. I'm tempted to get a copy for my nieces, but am conflicted about giving them yet another book they won't see themselves in. I would have loved to see more diversity in all it's forms, so will keep my fingers crossed that this is the first volume in a larger body of work. The other issue I had with the book is that it's broken into sections, and the photos don't match the section headers particularly well. Also, the introduction to each section was rather weak. All those flaws not withstanding, this was a book that made me smile, and the portraits of these girls makes this one worth picking up. Rating: 3 stars.
128. Transfer
I've read several poems by the author that I've loved, but for some reason my library system didn't have the collection I wanted to read, so I tried this one instead.
This collection is a homage to her father and her grief at his death. There is much here that is universal, and I especially liked the ones that dealt with the immigrant/exiled man her father became after leaving Palestine.
I copied some of the lines into my journal, and there were times I stopped reading because I was stunned by the imagery evoked, but overall this is not a collection I loved. I say that knowing full well that poetry is not my usual fare, so the fault might be all mine, and there I'll leave it. Rating: 3 stars.
129. Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4)
I'm listening to The Dark Tower series on audio, and this one continues to be superbly narrated by Frank Muller.
Holy moly, what a long strange trip this has been. So many reviewers hated this installment. It's mostly backstory, and we get to spend time with 14 year old Roland, his first ka-tet and his great love. There's lots of action, gun (and other kinds of) fights, curses, scheming, betrayal, and a love story. I loved every minute of this one. I loved the old timey Western feel, I loved the love story, I loved learning about the events that shaped the Gunslinger, and I developed a crush on the man. There are so many new characters, and for change I don't have to complain about the women, who are wonderfully fleshed out here. As usual King spins a wonderful yarn with lots of tangents, and nods to his other books and popular culture. Oh Kansas, how interesting you are in stories. I loved every minute of this one, and in my opinion it's the best in the series so far, and might well be the best thing he's ever written. Rating: 5 stars.
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