December Edition

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” — Edith Sitwell

For the Littles:
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden, Illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Would you like to read a Christmas story that makes me cry every single year? I love this book. The illustrations are by Barbara Cooney (the genius behind Miss Rumphius, Chanticleer the Fox, Roxaboxen, and more) and the story is poetic and magical. Godden rewrites portions of the little match girl (a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale…with a rather sad ending) mixing it with a bit of Velveteen Rabbit doll-come-to-life magic. A story of loneliness heightened in the wintry holiday, and healed with lives brought together. Our copy is taped all together because we’ve loved it so hard!

Family Readaloud:
Little Pilgrims Progress by Helen L. Taylor
I’ve read the original myself and my big girls listened to an audio book, but we’ve never done Pilgrim’s Progress as a family readaloud. I thought this was a great adaptation for younger children (and the illustrations are beautiful). I think I’ll pick up the original to read through myself and see if it inspires any poetry.

For Myself:
Hinge by Molly Spencer
I read this book, then I immediately read it again. I used to read and admire Molly’s blog The Stanza years ago when I was just out of my MFA program; I feel like her writing is a good blend of accessibility and complexity. (By that I mean most non-poetry readers can likely pick up her book and appreciate her poems at least on a second reading). We have a lot of similar obsessions in our poetry—houses, Demeter/Persephone, marriage, motherhood, fairytales. Love Poem for Lupus is a good example of her blend of reality and fairytale and domesticity.

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
One of my favorites—loved that it tied in to the “blackbirds baked in a pie” nursery rhyme, and Miss Marple was at her old lady detective best.

Writing Update:

• My poem Every Now and Then the Yard Caught Fire is in the latest Baltimore Review.

• My poem Even Jesus asked where God was was an honorable mention with the Valiant Scribe writing contest.

• I have a humorous essay up on Her View From Home: Sugar Shaker

Thanks to all of y’all who have been reading my book reviews for a year now; looking forward to digging into some great books in 2024, and sharing them here with you!