Dragonfly's Poetry & Prolixity: Amazing, Cerebral, Fascinatingly Beautiful Books! My Favorites of 2015!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Amazing, Cerebral, Fascinatingly Beautiful Books! My Favorites of 2015!

“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”

I read a brief description of this series on Fliver and was instantly intrigued. It is a woman's soul split wide open; an epiphany; a 1,600 page praise prayer to life; a spirit-reviving miracle. And more. It is what books are meant to be... It's why ink and paper were invented. Yes, these books are that good, and better.

So I ordered only the first book in the series to see if it lived up to my high expectations...BIG MISTAKE! I read it in one day and immediately got the last three books. I've never read a series quite like this. At the heart of the story is a lifelong friendship between two brilliant girls who grew up in a poor Italian neighborhood...(horrid oversimplification!) The author is a uniquely gifted storyteller and nothing I can say can adequately describe the beauty, depth, horror, insight and joy contained in this story...All four books are one continuous story that you never want to end.

So, if you're looking for something riveting, luscious, and magnificent to read to finish up your reading year, definitely read these amazing books. You can thank me later. ;-) xo, Marion

3 comments:

Kelly said...: Thanks for the recommendation, Marion - I'm off to check them out more closely right now!; November 16, 2015 at 11:51 AM
Marion said...: You'll love them, Kelly. I read all four non-stop in one week. Now I'm depressed that they're over. LOL! xo; November 16, 2015 at 1:44 PM
erin said...: i'll keep them in mind:); November 24, 2015 at 6:29 PM

I Love Lorrie Moore!!

“You’re not a poetess, I hope,” said the English geologist next to her. “We had a poetess here last month, and things got a bit dodgy here for the rest of us.”

“Really.” After the soup, there was risotto with squid ink.

“Yes. She kept referring to insects as ‘God’s typos’ and then she kept us all after dinner one evening so she could read from her poems, which seemed to consist primarily of the repeating line ‘the hairy kiwi of his balls.’”

From: “Birds of America” by Lorrie Moore, page 266, ‘Terrific Mother’

Miranda July's Best Book:

"Do you have doubts about life? Are you unsure if it is worth the trouble? Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each person's face as you pass on the street: those faces are for you. And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. They are as much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing. Stand up and face the east. Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under the sky. It's okay to be unsure. But praise, praise, praise." From: "No One Belongs Here More Than You Stories by Miranda July", Page 11

A Dreamy, Drug of a Book

"The minute you land in New Orleans, something wet and dark leaps on you and starts humping you like a swamp dog in heat, and the only way to get that aspect of New Orleans off you is to eat it off. That means beignets and crayfish bisque and jambalaya, it means shrimp remoulade, pecan pie and red beans with rice, it means elegant pompano au papillote, funky file z'herbes, and raw oysters by the dozen, it means grillades for breakfast, a po' boy with chowchow at bedtime, and tubs of gumbo in between. It is not unusual for a visitor to the city to gain fifteen pounds in a week---yet the alternative is a whole lot worse. If you don't eat night and day, if you don't constantly funnel the indigenous flavors into your bloodstream, then the mystery beast will go right on humping you, and you will feel its sordid presence rubbing against you long after you have left town." ~Tom Robbins, "Jitterbug Perfume", page 240