90. Initial Response: An A-?Z of haiku moments by Maeve OInitial Response :An A-?Z of haiku moments by Maeve O’??Sullivan (Alba Publishing, 2011) is a coherent collection, with the structure allowing bite-sized units of poems. I was curious about her writing since she has a new collection from Alba coming so wanted to check it out. I have a terrible time keeping track of books, whether digital or physical. I’ll quote this when I turn up my copy again.
91. The Book on the Book Shelves by Henry Petroski (Vintage, 1999) is obsessively detailed. It is far more than your imagined one could know about shelves or ways to store folios, papyrus, or bound trade books. It is a trivia-hounds dream really. Skip the first chapter tho, where he expounds on what a book is as if to aliens unfamiliar, and throw in some sizist randomness.
92. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (Harper Collins, 2021). Loved the first book and this switch to the youngest sister didn’t disappoint. The wit and language is sumptuous. The first book delved into disability and spoons. This third navigates two people with autism learning to cherish, and coming of age even if nearly 30. The real talk and opening up with one another is lovely. I expect a spin-off book with Mont’s twin sisters seeking love, or maybe one around Mont. They are all lovely characters. And Mont does know of Gigi so maybe there’s a hook for a story there somehow. I like how it articulated how one interpreted the other was defensive or nervous and how to respond to not pressure. I like how the characters all have each other’s backs. It was good comedy too.
93. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (Harper Collins, 2020) opens with queer witches praying for a sex buddy. The witchcraft didn’t stay along for the ride but the whole navigates strategies for depression. There’s queerness, a bi main character, but her happily ever after is with a guy. On the other hand there’s a proud big academic Black woman and a muslim arab sports guy. It wasn’t as tightly written or as complex as the other two. The support of family I wish were expanded a little more with fewer repetitions of the word dick and it’s more repetitions of the word fuck than my previous cumulative life total.