The Literary Adventures of an Opinionated Bookworm

Christmas can be a hectic time of year, even without the pandemic blues; new couples try to sort out which side of the family to visit, parents search for the perfect Christmas present, and people reflect on the previous year, wondering what could have been, and what will be next year.  On top of all of this, many movies, tv shows and books stress the importance of having someone special to say "I love you" to on Christmas Eve/Day. For some odd reason or another, romance has suddenly become an intrinsic part of Christmas. However, it is the decentralization of romance that made me love Home for the Holidays  by Sara Richardson. Home for the Holidays Dahlia, Magnolia and Rose are sisters who returned to their Aunt's inn, thinking this is their last chance to spend Christmas with her. Upon their arrival, they discover that what they really needed was time away from their busy lives to reassess what it is they really want, and whether or not they should reach for those goals...

It is not very often that I find myself at a complete loss for words, but alas, Kurt Vonnegut has left me wondering what exactly I feel towards his book, Slaughterhouse-Five. Even after the conclusion of the novel, I still find myself searching for the words. The trouble is, I am not entirely sure what I just experienced.  Billy Pilgrim and the Tralfamadorians Vonnegut's book could exist in several different genres, especially as it is a memoir of his time in World War Two, with an emphasis on the bombing of Dresden, and an unhinged account of the odyssey of Billy Pilgrim. The book reads like a memory, broken bits of narrative and nothing in order, with some extraordinary events that leave you scratching your head, wondering what on Tralfamadore just happened to you.  Memoir, perhaps. Historical, sure. But what about science-fiction? Part of Pilgrim's journey finds him abducted by Tralfamadorians, an alien race that helps him to see many more aspects to his life than he initia...

 "but who would suggest an origin for light, except blackness" (11) My strengths do not lie in poetry, I fully acknowledge that fact. For this reason, I think I avoid poetry more than I should. I am always worried that I will not understand what the author is trying to tell me, and that the words will evaporate from my memory the moment I turn the page.  However, reading  M Archive  by Alexis Pauline Gumbs was a different experience altogether, and may have made me more courageous in my relationship with poetry collections.  Emotional, Historical, Personal How do I explain M Archive ? On the back of my copy, the summary states that it "is a series of poetic artifacts that speculatively documents the persistence of Black life following a worldwide cataclysm." All at once, this collection is science-fiction, poetry and a reflection on Black feminist theory. With every page turned, Gumbs will have you considering what a body is and the history that one body can enc...