REVOLUTION FOR DUMMIES by Bassem Youssef

April 10, 2017

Laughing through the Arab Spring

If a book has a blurb from Jon Stewart , and the author is known as the “The Jon Stewart of the Arabic World” I have no choice but to read the book. So I did.

I first learned about Bassem Youssef while watching Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. And I was intrigued. A few weeks later, I stumbled across the book at my library and grabbed it.

I like learning about different cultures, and I don’t know a whole lot about Egypt. I did have a co-worker from Egypt (who has since been promoted and moved to another branch of the library) and we talked on occasion about her family and her life in Egypt and here, so I have some understanding, at least of how her family lives. But she is no revolutionary, and Youssef is. So I was happy to read a very interesting point of view from a very funny Egyptian voice.

While I appreciate his humor, the Egyptian government did not. He was threatened and arrested but eventually fled Egypt and landed in California. Youssef is not just a comedian; his first career was as a heart surgeon. Besides not knowing much about life in Egypt, I know even less about their politics. Comedy is not especially welcome by an oppressive regime, and that was not a surprise. But Youssef’s life has been extraordinary so far, brutal at times, sad for sure, but his writing style, his satire, is laugh out loud funny.

 

From the publisher:

“Hilarious and Heartbreaking. Comedy shouldn’t take courage, but it made an exception for Bassem.” –Jon Stewart

“The Jon Stewart of the Arabic World”—the creator of The Program, the most popular television show in Egypt’s history—chronicles his transformation from heart surgeon to political satirist, and offers crucial insight into the Arab Spring, the Egyptian Revolution, and the turmoil roiling the modern Middle East, all of which inspired the documentary about his life, Tickling Giants.

Bassem Youssef’s incendiary satirical news program, Al-Bernameg (The Program), chronicled the events of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, and the rise of Mubarak’s successor, Mohamed Morsi. Youssef not only captured his nation’s dissent but stamped it with his own brand of humorous political criticism, in which the Egyptian government became the prime laughing stock.

So potent were Youssef’s skits, jokes, and commentary, the authoritarian government accused him of insulting the Egyptian presidency and Islam. After a six-hour long police interrogation, Youssef was released. While his case was eventually dismissed, his television show was terminated, and Youssef, fearful for his safety, fled his homeland.

In Revolution for Dummies, Youssef recounts his life and offers hysterical riffs on the hypocrisy, instability, and corruption that has long animated Egyptian politics. From the attempted cover-up of the violent clashes in Tahrir Square to the government’s announcement that it had created the world’s first “AIDS cure” machine, to the conviction of officials that Youssef was a CIA operative—recruited by Jon Stewart—to bring down the country through sarcasm. There’s much more—and it’s all insanely true.

Interweaving the dramatic and inspiring stories of the development of his popular television show and his rise as the most contentious funny-man in Egypt, Youssef’s humorous, fast-paced takes on dictatorship, revolution, and the unforeseeable destiny of democracy in the Modern Middle East offers much needed hope and more than a few healing laughs. A documentary about his life, Tickling Giants, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, and is now scheduled for major release.

Something to look forward to.

4/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

REVOLUTION FOR DUMMIES by Bassem Youssef. Dey Street Books (March 21, 2017). ISBN 978-0062446893. 304p.

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Author Cole Horton on his early writing and bookstore shopping

April 9, 2017

Author Cole Horton (STAR WARS: THE VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA) discusses writing college history papers, avoiding social media when working, and why he reads every Star Wars book he can find.

STAR WARS: THE VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA by by Adam Bray and Cole Horton

Covering more than 2,500 characters, creatures, planets, vehicles, Droids™, weapons, technology, and more from the Star Wars™

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universe, this visual tour is the ultimate compendium for the epic saga and beyond.

Take a stunning visual tour of Star Wars with DK’s comprehensive pictorial guide to the galaxy far, far away!

From lightsabers to beasts to food and clothing, Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia is a virtual museum in a book. Explore beautiful galleries with more than 2,500 images, and discover facts about Star Wars culture, science, and geography.

With a full history of the galactic politics, the Jedi Council, and the Empire, Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia walks fans through the entire timeline of Star Wars.  See the blasters of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope™, look at the stormtroopers of Star Wars: The Force Awakens™, and study the geography of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story™.

Each section of the book focuses on different topics to dedicate special attention and detail to every part of the universe, no matter how small. From the planets in the outer rim to Padmé’s bridal wear, nothing is missed.

A celebration of all things Star Wars, this compendium is the perfect addition to any fan’s bookshelf.

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The story of Sri Lankan elephants

April 7, 2017

Author John Gimlette – Sri Lanka is home to 7,500 elephants. Author John Gimlette (ELEPHANT COMPLEX) looks at what makes this species unique, and how they reflect the character and history of Sri Lanka.

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ELEPHANT COMPLEX by John Gimlette

Travels in Sri Lanka

“Brilliant.” —The Daily Telegraph

No one sees the world quite like John Gimlette. In Elephant Complex, he ventures into Sri Lanka, a country only now emerging from twenty-six years of civil war.

Beginning in the exuberant capital, Colombo, Gimlette ventures out in all directions: to the dry zones where the island’s 5,800 wild elephants congregate around ancient reservoirs; through cinnamon country with its Portuguese forts; to the “Bible Belt” of Buddhism; then up into Kandy, the country’s eccentric, aristocratic Shangri-la. In the course of his journey, Gimlette meets farmers, war heroes, cricketers, terrorists, a former president, survivors of great massacres—and perhaps some of their perpetrators. That’s to say nothing of the island’s beguiling fauna: elephants, crocodiles, snakes, storks, and the greatest concentration of leopards on Earth.

Here is a land of beauty and devastation, a place at once heavenly and hellish—all brought to vibrant, fascinating life here on the page.

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A COLONY IN A NATION by Chris Hayes

April 6, 2017

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I don’t read a lot of political books. I do watch a lot (too much) TV news, and I read a lot of newspapers; usually the “fake” kind like MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and other Pulitzer Prize winners. And I listen to podcasts like Pod Save America from the hilariously named “Crooked Media,” and I watch the late night shows that help me laugh about what’s going on in this country and keep me from leaping off the ledge. (Feel free to comment as you like, the comments have to be approved. By me.)

So, Chris Hayes. I love him on MSNBC, he’s smart and quick and rarely loses his cool, something I truly admire (and wish I was better at.) So when I heard he wrote a book, I was “all in.”

This is a book about racism in America and yes, a white guy can write about it. And he does a really good job. The title refers to what Hayes considers the racial divide in this country, specifically in our criminal justice system. He believes that white Americans are treated as citizens, with civil rights and respect, while minorities are treated as colonists, where their civil rights are nonexistent and they basically live in a police state. He makes his point by tracing American history from the 1960’s civil rights era through today, and while it is disturbing, Hayes writes well, making his point clearly and succinctly. I found this book very upsetting, but I knew that going in.

From the publisher:

New York Times best-selling author and Emmy Award–winning news anchor Chris Hayes argues that there are really two Americas: a Colony and a Nation.

America likes to tell itself that it inhabits a postracial world, yet nearly every empirical measure—wealth, unemployment, incarceration, school segregation—reveals that racial inequality has barely improved since 1968, when Richard Nixon became our first “law and order” president. With the clarity and originality that distinguished his prescient bestseller, Twilight of the Elites, Chris Hayes upends our national conversation on policing and democracy in a book of wide-ranging historical, social, and political analysis.

Hayes contends our country has fractured in two: the Colony and the Nation. In the Nation, we venerate the law. In the Colony, we obsess over order, fear trumps civil rights, and aggressive policing resembles occupation. A Colony in a Nation explains how a country founded on justice now looks like something uncomfortably close to a police state. How and why did Americans build a system where conditions in Ferguson and West Baltimore mirror those that sparked the American Revolution?

A Colony in a Nation examines the surge in crime that began in the 1960s and peaked in the 1990s, and the unprecedented decline that followed. Drawing on close-hand reporting at flashpoints of racial conflict, as well as deeply personal experiences with policing, Hayes explores cultural touchstones, from the influential “broken windows” theory to the “squeegee men” of late-1980s Manhattan, to show how fear causes us to make dangerous and unfortunate choices, both in our society and at the personal level. With great empathy, he seeks to understand the challenges of policing communities haunted by the omnipresent threat of guns. Most important, he shows that a more democratic and sympathetic justice system already exists—in a place we least suspect.

A Colony in a Nation is an essential book—searing and insightful—that will reframe our thinking about law and order in the years to come.

If you care about making America great “again,” or just care about how American citizens are treated in our criminal justice system, pick up this book. It is a most worthwhile read.

4/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

A COLONY IN A NATION by Chris Hayes. W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (March 21, 2017). ISBN 978-0393254228. 256p.

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CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH by Colleen Oakley

April 5, 2017

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Colleen Oakley is being compared to JoJo Moyes and I have to say I agree. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Well developed characters made the story super compelling.

Jubilee Jenkins suffers from an exceedingly rare allergy – she’s allergic to human touch. It is so rare that twenty years earlier, when she was a young child, the New York Times did an in depth piece on her.

She’s had a lot of strife in her life, but things really took a turn for the worse when she turned 18. Her mother married and moved out, leaving Jubilee to fend for herself. She becomes a recluse, and eventually agoraphobic, and for nine years has no contact with anyone, including her mother, other than checks that regularly appear.

Jubilee’s mother passes away and the husband calls to tell her. He also tells her he is not going to be supporting her any longer, but he’s paid off the mortgage of the house she lives in and she also inherited the car. Jubilee finds a job at the library, and eventually meets Eric and Aja.

Aja is a super smart little boy who bonds with Jubilee, and Eric does too. Eric is divorced with a teenage daughter living with her mother in another town and she won’t speak to him. Eric adopted Aja after his parents, Eric’s best friends, died in a tragic accident. The little boy has some issues, to say the least, as does Eric.

All these damaged characters make for an engrossing read, and Oakley does a really fine job of not going the easy route. This book was unputdownable and these characters are going to stay with me for a long while. Highly recommended.

4/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH by Colleen Oakley. Gallery Books (March 7, 2017). ISBN: 978-1501139260. 336p.

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THE CREATIVE PROCESS DISNEY USED TO REWRITE “FROZEN”

April 4, 2017

The innovation technique Disney used to rewrite FROZEN | Charles Duhigg – Charles Duhigg (author of SMARTER FASTER BETTER) looks at the creative process Disney used when rewriting FROZEN, making it into a huge success.

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SMARTER FASTER BETTER by Charles Duhigg

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The Power of Habit comes a fascinating book that explores the science of productivity, and why managing how you think is more important than what you think—with an appendix of real-world lessons to apply to your life.

At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key productivity concepts—from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently.

They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

A young woman drops out of a PhD program and starts playing poker. By training herself to envision contradictory futures, she learns to anticipate her opponents’ missteps—and becomes one of the most successful players in the world.

A group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function, and find that how a group interacts is more important than who is in the group—a principle, it turns out, that also helps explain why Saturday Night Live became a hit.

A Marine Corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp—and discovers that instilling a “bias toward action” can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers.

The filmmakers behind Disney’s Frozen are nearly out of time and on the brink of catastrophe—until they shake up their team in just the right way, spurring a creative breakthrough that leads to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

What do these people have in common?

They know that productivity relies on making certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to drive innovation; the way we interact with data: These are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.

In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity, deep reporting, and rich storytelling to explain how we can improve at the things we do. It’s a groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help anyone learn to succeed with less stress and struggle, and to get more done without sacrificing what we care about most—to become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do.

Praise for Smarter Faster Better

“A pleasure to read . . . Duhigg’s skill as a storyteller makes his book so engaging to read.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Not only will Smarter Faster Better make you more efficient if you heed its tips, it will also save you the effort of reading many productivity books dedicated to the ideas inside.”—Bloomberg Businessweek

“Duhigg pairs relatable anecdotes with the research behind why some people and businesses are not as efficient as others.”—Chicago Tribune

“The book covers a lot of ground through meticulous reporting and deft analysis, presenting a wide range of case studies . . . with insights that apply to the rest of us.”—The Wall Street Journal

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BUM LUCK by Paul Levine

April 3, 2017

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Levine writes two of my favorite series, the Jake Lassiter series and the Solomon & Lord books. With 2016’s Bum Rap, he put his series characters together in one book, and he’s done it again here to great success.

Bum Luck is a terrific legal thriller and humorous crime novel, but more than that Levine tackles a tough subject: CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Lassiter is an ex-Miami Dolphin whose spent his pro career, not to mention high school and college ball, suffering one concussion after another and those headbanging injuries have come home to roost.

Lassiter realizes he has a problem when he gets his client, a famous and hugely popular football star, a not guilty verdict based on Florida’s infamous “stand your ground” law. Convinced his client is really guilty, Lassiter has fantasies of killing him himself – a little vigilante justice. Meanwhile, Solomon & Lord are opposing counsel in an insurance claim case and Lassiter is helping them more than his client, the insurance company.

Lassiter is also suffering from tremendous headaches, dizziness and tinnitus, in addition to his vigilante fantasies, and meets a neurologist that he wants to date, but she’s more interested in his brain issues. Lots of twists and turns keep the pages turning and this was a one nighter for me.

I’m deeply troubled by all the news about CTE and this was the perfect vehicle for a closer look at it. Levine manages to make it all easy reading and never gets preachy, and I am most appreciative that he made that leap in this excellent read.

4/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BUM LUCK by Paul Levine. Thomas & Mercer (March 28, 2017).  ISBN 978-1477823101. 332p.

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2017 RITA and Golden Heart Finalists

April 2, 2017

Romance Writers of America Announces 2017 Contest Finalists

Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for romance fiction authors, announces the finalists for the 2017 RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards. The RITA — the highest award of distinction in romance fiction — recognizes excellence in published romance novels and novellas. The Golden Heart recognizes excellence in unpublished romance manuscripts.

Up to 2,000 romance novels are entered in the RITA competition. A novel may be entered either by the author or by the book’s publisher in one of the contest categories. After the first round of judging by published romance authors, entries that meet the qualifications to become a finalist then advance to the final round.

The winners will be announced July 27 at the 2017 RWA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Congratulations to the finalists!

RITA Finalists

Best First Book
Alterations by Stephanie Scott

Before Goodbye by Mimi Cross

Close to You by Kara Isaac

The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

Once and For All: An American Valor Novel by Cheryl Etchison

Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods

 

Contemporary Romance: Long
Always a Bridesmaid by Lizzie Shane

Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Anne Long

Make Me Sin by J. T. Geissinger

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

Pansies by Alexis Hall

Snowfall on Haven Point by RaeAnne Thayne

Tender Is the Night by Barbara Freethy

 

Contemporary Romance: Mid-Length
Back in the Saddle by Karen Templeton

Barefoot at Midnight by Roxanne St. Claire

Carolina Dreaming by Virginia Kantra

Fast Connection by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell

Lone Heart Pass by Jodi Thomas

Off the Hook by Laura Drewry

Once and For All: An American Valor Novel by Cheryl Etchison

Tell Me How This Ends by Victoria De La O

The Turning Point by Marie Meyer

Wanderlust by Roni Loren

 

Contemporary Romance: Short
APB: Baby by Julie Miller

Breaking Good by Madeline Ash

Christmas on Crimson Mountain by Michelle Major

Falling for the Rancher by Tanya Michaels

Far from Home by Lorelie Brown

His Stolen Bride by Barbara Dunlop

A Malibu Kind of Romance by Synithia Williams

Overwhelming Force by Janie Crouch

Searching for Disaster by Jennifer Probst

Two Doctors & a Baby by Brenda Harlen

 

Erotic Romance
The Dirty Secret by Kira A. Gold

The Master by Tara Sue Me

Off the Clock by Roni Loren

Ravenous by M. S. Force

Three Sweet Nothings by Nikki Sloane

 

Historical Romance: Long
Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase

How I Married a Marquess by Anna Harrington

No Mistress of Mine by Laura Lee Guhrke

Susana and the Scot by Sabrina York

 

Historical Romance: Short
Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen

Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick

 

Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance
The Color of a Promise by Julianne MacLean

The Depth of Beauty by A. B. Michaels

The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel

Now That It’s You by Tawna Fenske

 

Paranormal Romance
Bayou Shadow Hunter by Debbie Herbert

The Beast by J R Ward

The Champion of Barésh by Susan Grant

Enchanted Warrior by Sharon Ashwood

Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella

The Leopard King by Ann Aguirre

The Pages of the Mind by Jeffe Kennedy

Where the Wild Things Bite by Molly Harper

 

Romance Novella
Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan

“The Husband Maneuver” by Karen Witemeyer

Let It Snow by Jeanette Grey

“Let Us Dream” by Alyssa Cole

Searching for Mine by Jennifer Probst

Tycoon by Joanna Shupe

Wild in Rio by Lyssa Kay Adams

 

Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements
Close to You by Kara Isaac

Keeper of the Stars by Robin Lee Hatcher

My Hope Next Door by Tammy L. Gray

Trust My Heart by Carol J. Post

 

Romantic Suspense
All the Dead Girls by Rita Herron

Atone by Beth Yarnall

Field of Graves by J. T. Ellison

Killer Countdown by Amelia Autin

Mr. and Mr. Smith by HelenKay Dimon

One Minute to Midnight by Nico Rosso

Repressed by Elisabeth Naughton

Tall, Dark and Damaged by Sarah Andre

 

Young Adult Romance
Affective Needs by Rebecca Taylor

The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods

 

Golden Heart Finalists

Contemporary Romance
“Always Sunny” by Kimberly MacCarron

“Far-Fetched Love” by Priscilla Cook

“Framed” by Susan J. Bickford

“Mounting the Marquis” by Kelli Newby

“No Man Left Behind” by Penelope Leas

“Sometimes You Need a Sexy Scot” by Melonie Johnson

“Take the Lead” by Alexis Daria

“Tempting Fate” by Jeri Black

“Things I’ll Never Say” by Christina Hovland

“This Child Is Mine” by Jo Anne Banker

 

Contemporary Romance: Short
“Job Opening: Billionaire’s Wife” by Susannah Erwin

“A Love Wide Open” by JoAnn Sky

“Princess of Meridian” by Catherine Stuart

“What Would Ginger Do?” by Kimberly MacCarron

 

Historical Romance
“Confess, Your Grace” by Scarlett Peckham

“The Governess’s Glance” by Jennifer Henderson

“How to Train Your Baron” by Diana Lloyd

“Lord Lion and the Lady Publisher” by Laurel Kerr

“The Lost Chord” by Suzanne M. Turner

“The Price of Desire” by Emily Sullivan

“Unmasked” by Elizabeth Rue

“With Love in Sight” by Christina Britton


Paranormal Romance
“Beryl Blue, Time Cop” by Janet Halpin

“Bless Your Heart and Other Southern Curses” by Heather Leonard

“Constant Craving” by Kari W. Cole

“Fire’s Rising” by Grace Adams

“The Mer Chronicles: Love’s Diplomatic Act” by Kate Ramirez

“Soul Affinity” by A. Y. Chao

 

Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements
“Dangerous Exposure” by Dianna Shuford

“Fair Haven” by Laura Conner Kestner

“Wings of Love” by Pamela Ferguson

 

Romantic Suspense
“The Fire Beckons” by Lynnette Labelle

“The Guide” by Sarah Morgenthaler

“Seductive Strokes” by Patty Hoffman

“Semper Fi” by Meta Carroll

“Shot Down” by Tracy Brody

“Vengeance” by Diana Belchase

 

Young Adult Romance
“All the Feels” by Kimberly MacCarron

“Listen” by Jennifer Camiccia

“Mouthful” by C R Grissom

“Swimming through Fog” by Nicole Hohmann

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Win the April ’17 bookshelf of signed thrillers!

April 1, 2017

Welcome to the April bookshelf of signed thrillers! Lots of new books to win – some favorite authors or find a new author. To enter, go to the Win Books page. Best of luck!

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THE LOST ORDER by Steve Berry: When rival factions of a dangerous clandestine organization begin a race to find billions in stolen treasure hidden by their progenitors, Justice Department agent Cotton Malone finds the case complicated by his unsuspected ties to the organization and the political schemes of an unscrupulous politician.

THE RED HUNTER by Lisa Unger: Tackling a house restoration project and blog in the hopes of escaping a traumatic event that ended her marriage, Claudia uncovers an ugly history in the crumbling house, where another woman, Zoey, survived a home invasion and pursued the martial arts to find security and healing.

THE BURIAL HOUR by Jeffery Deaver: A return to Deaver’s successful series finds Lincoln Rhyme investigating the abduction of a traveling businessman from an Upper East Side street, a case that is complicated by an 8-year-old girl who was the crime’s only witness.

BUM LUCK by Paul Levine: When trial lawyer Jake Lassiter becomes fixated on killing a client he believes he helped get away with murder, Jake’s friends Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord suspect his raging obsession is caused by concussive brain injuries from his previous football career.

THE OUTSIDER by Anthony Franze: Intervening in a violent mugging and catching the eye of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, young law clerk Grayson Hernandez becomes caught in the crosshairs of a serial killer when the FBI asks for his assistance in hunting for a murderer.

DUPLICITY by Jane Haseldine: Detroit crime reporter Julia Gooden struggles to overcome past demons and support a high-profile case against a drug trafficker who has orchestrated a bombing that has left Julia’s assistant district attorney husband critically injured.

THE RED LINE by Walt Gragg: World War III explodes in seconds when a resurgent Russian Federation launches a deadly armored thrust into the heart of Germany.

SILENT CITY by Alex Segura: Succumbing to heavy drinking, unemployment and a broken engagement after the loss of his father, Pete Fernandez reluctantly agrees to search for a friend’s missing daughter and finds himself in a tangle of murder, drugs and betrayals in the heart of the Miami underworld.

 

You can win autographed copies of all these books! If you are new to the site, each month I run a contest in conjunction with the International Thriller Writers organization. We put together a list of books from debut authors to bestsellers, so you can win some of your favorites and find some new favorites.

What makes this contest really special is that all of the books (except eBooks) are signed by the author! Books with multiple authors will be signed by at least one of the authors.

Penguin Random House books for giveaway were provided by the publisher. #PRHpartner

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to the newsletter or follow this blog, you get an extra entry into every contest you enter. Check out the Win Books page for more information on all these books and how you to enter this month’s contest.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

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CANNIBAL by Safiya Sinclair

March 31, 2017

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The Notable Books Council, first established in 1944 by the American Library Association, announced the 2017 selections of the Notable Books List, an annual best-of list comprised of twenty-six titles written for adult readers and published in the U.S. including literary fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The list was announced in January and I was delighted to see one of the two poetry winners was my favorite poet, Billy Collins. The other was a poet that I was not familiar with, Safiya Sinclair. Seemed like a good time to check out her debut book of poetry, and I’m very glad I did.

The Notable Books Committee described it as, “sharp observations on our off-kilter world will spark your emotions while engaging your mind.” Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, calling it “stunning debut collection.” And Booklist, in another starred review, said “reading (and rereading) Sinclair is an urgently necessary, absolutely unparalleled experience.”

A few other people liked it, too.

From the publisher:

Winner of the 2016 Whiting Award 
Winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (Poetry)
An American Library Association “Notable Book of the Year” 
Longlisted for the 2017 Dylan Thomas Prize 
Longlisted for the 2017 PEN Open Book Award
One of BuzzFeed’s Best Poetry Books of 2016
One of The New Yorker‘s “Books We Loved in 2016”A Poets & Writers Top Ten Poetry Debut of 2016
A Publishers Weekly “Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2016”

Colliding with and confronting The Tempest and postcolonial identity, the poems in Safiya Sinclair’s Cannibal explore Jamaican childhood and history, race relations in America, womanhood, otherness, and exile. She evokes a home no longer accessible and a body at times uninhabitable, often mirrored by a hybrid Eve/Caliban figure. Blooming with intense lyricism and fertile imagery, these full-blooded poems are elegant, mythic, and intricately woven. Here the female body is a dark landscape; the female body is cannibal. Sinclair shocks and delights her readers with her willingness to disorient and provoke, creating a multitextured collage of beautiful and explosive poems.

Lets start at the beginning, where Sinclair explains the title:

The word “cannibal,” the English variant of the Spanish word canibal, comes from the word caribal, a reference to the native Carib people in the West Indies, who Columbus thought ate human flesh and from whom the word “Caribbean” originated. By virtue of being Caribbean, all “West Indian” people are already, in a purely linguistic sense, born savage.”

Talk about being hooked from the beginning of a book! The poetry is exquisite; the language is so vivid and emotional and at times, shocking. I couldn’t read it in one gulp, I took my time and savored every page. I came away feeling like I learned something, which I can’t always say about poetry. The best way to see if you may like a poet is to try reading some – or listening to the poet read her own. Enjoy.

Sinclair reading “Hands”

 

Confessor

This is where you leave me.
Filling of old salt and ponderous,

what’s left of your voice in the air.
Blue honeycreeper thrashed out

to a ragged wind, whole months
spent crawling this white beach

raked like a thumb, shucking, swallowing
the sea’s benediction, pearled oxides.

Out here I am the body invented naked,
woman emerging from cold seas, herself

the raw eel-froth met beneath her tangles,
who must believe with all her puckering

holes. What wounds the Poinciana slits
forth, what must turn red eventually.

The talon-mouths undressing. The cling-cling
bird scratching its one message; the arm

you broke reset and broke again. Caribbean.
Sky a wound I am licking, until I am drawn new

as a lamb, helpless in the chicken wire of my sex.
I let every stranger in. Watch men change faces

with the run-down sun, count fires
in the loom-holes of their pickups, lines of rot,

studying their scarred window-plagues,
nightshade my own throat closed tight

against a hard hand. Then all comes mute
in my glittering eye. All is knocked back,

slick hem-suck of the dark surf, ceramic
tiles approaching, the blur of a beard.

The white tusk of his ocean goring me.
This world unforgiving in its boundaries.

The day’s owl and its omen
slipping a bright hook

into my cheek —

Source: Poetry (December 2015)

The Art of Unselfing

The mind’s black kettle hisses its wild
exigencies at every turn: The hour before the coffee
                               and the hour after.
Penscratch of the gone morning, woman
a pitched hysteria watching the mad-ant scramble,
                               her small wants devouring.
Her binge and skin-thrall.
Her old selves being shuffled off into labyrinths,
                               this birdless sky a longing.
Her moth-mouth rabble unfacing
touch-and-go months under winter, torn letters
                               under floorboards,
each fickle moon pecked through with doubt.
And one spoiled onion. Pale Cyclops
                               on her kitchen counter
now sprouting green missives,
some act of contrition; neighbor-god’s vacuum
                               a loud rule thrown down.
Her mother now on the line saying too much.
This island is not a martyr. You tinker too much
                               with each gaunt memory, your youth
and its unweeding. Not everything blooms here
a private history — consider this immutable. Consider
                               our galloping sun, its life.
Your starved homesickness. The paper wasp kingdom
you set fire to, watched for days until it burnt a city in you.
                               Until a family your hands could not save
became the hurricane. How love is still unrooting you.
And how to grow a new body — to let each word be the wild rain
                               swallowed pure like an antidote.
Her mother at the airport saying don’t come back.
Love your landlocked city. Money. Buy a coat.
                               And even exile can be glamorous.
Some nights she calls across the deaf ocean to no one
in particular. No answer. Her heart’s double-vault
                               a muted hydra.
This hour a purge
of its own unselfing.
                               She must make a home of it.

Source: Poetry (December 2015)

3/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CANNIBAL by Safiya Sinclair. University of Nebraska Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2016). ISBN 978-0803290631. 126p.

Kindle

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