Read in March

1. I'll Ask You Three Times, Are You OK?: Tales of Driving and Being Driven, by Naomi Shihab Nye

2. The Shadow of the Bear, by Regina Doman

3. Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, by Guy Delisle

4. Feed, by M.T. Anderson

5. North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley

6. Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne

7. Sorcerers & Secretaries, volume 1, by Amy Kim Ganter
8. Poems, by Anna Akhmatova
9. Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor

The best:

Shenzhen, a graphic novel, lives up to my standards for Guy Delisle: smart, funny, interesting (other countries! hurray!), and sensitive to the absurdities of cross-cultural living.

Feed gets a mention because it is so thought-provoking, which is not to say the writing is bad. A dystopic young adult novel that makes some extremely interesting speculations about the future of language, social media, and information technology — things that I'm guessing are important to most people reading this.

North of Beautiful is a young adult novel about family, travel, art — about finding the things that are beautiful about oneself and this enormous world, and making your life what you want it to be. So enjoyable and uplifting, but not in a phony or annoying way.

Poems, a collection of Anna Akhmatova's poetry, is stunning. I love her unusual imagery, her quiet but clear voice, her strange stories. I had never read anything of hers before this volume, but I'd count her among my favorite poets now. I posted a poem from this book a while ago.

Joyful Girl instructs herself on getting ready for swimsuit season

[please see here.]

Speak to people instead of mirrors;
Trust that the scars will fade some more;
Remember that you have remembered how to smile;
Persuade yourself that these legs which have taken you on so many adventures are better than
perfectly thinny thighs that can barely carry their owner down a runway;
Steal flowers for yourself as an antidote to jealousy;
Conclude that the phrase "bikini body" is a giant crock;
Choose to receive the ocean and sun as proof that you are loved.

Yep. I'm so grown-up.

Early birthday present. :)

P.S. Q asked in the comments of my last post if the scene with the statue was something I actually saw. The answer is yes. Almost all of the poems I post here are written from my perspective about something I have experienced, in case you were wondering.

This is what I wondered at today, this is what I loved

how sun-colored poppies
grow in the arms of the streetcar tracks:
thick and heedless

seeing a man button a statue into a dress,
carry her over his shoulder into a hip-deep fountain and
leave her standing peacefully there
(in this square of murky green water)
in the middle of the financial district,

one hand steadying the bowl on her head.

April and manicotti

My dad was late coming home tonight, and my sister had to stay at school for a drama rehearsal. My mother and I made ourselves a nice dinner of vegetable-cheese manicotti anyways and had cookie dough and slightly burnt cookies for dessert.

Steam.

My cat gets anxious when my mom and I pay attention to something besides her.