Shelf Life: March 2013

Shelf Life: March 2013Lots of poetry, some lit crit, and a burnt lasange.

Rush, by bill bissett30. Rush, by bill bissett
(BookThug, 2012)

Reviewed for Broken Pencil.

31. Heroines, by Kate Zambreno
(Semiotext(e), 2012)

When I saw it in Book City, I couldn’t resist picking it up. Zambreno looks at the “mad” literary wives of famous authors as they’re popularly portrayed, with the men suffering their “difficulties,” when these same – or worse – resistances and reluctances in men, are seen as signs of their fastidious genius.

She writes from a very personal, very bloggy perspective, and it doesn’t come as a surprise that much of this text was cribbed from her blog, Francis Farmer is My Sister, which I hadn’t read previously, but now finds a place in my RSS feeds.

It’s an interesting book, personal biography intertwined with literary biography and feminist assessment. I hope to see more in this style.

32. Two Solitudes, by Hugh MacLennan
(New Canadian Library, 1945, 2008)

Our book club pick for March. I’d love to see a feminist reading of this text. Maybe I’ll write one.

Expressways, by Sina Queyras33. Expressway, by Sina Queyras
(Coach House Books, 2005)

34. The People’s Apocalypse, edited by Ariel Gore
(Microcosm Publishing, 2013)

Reviewed for Broken Pencil.

35. Arts Reviews, by Celia Brayfield
(Oldcastle Books, 2008)

For those looking to enter into criticism, this is an excellent instructional guide for how to get started. Brayfield is straightforward and to the point, honest about payment and what to expect.

Most of it was familiar territory to me, but it’s nice to have positions reaffirmed, and I love that this is a book I can now strongly recommend to budding reviewers and critics looking for a practical how-to.

36. Alert to Glory, by Sally Ito
(Turnstone Press, 2011)

125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes, by  Judith Finlayson37. 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes, by Judith Finlayson
(Robert Rose, 2004)

Nope.

The mushroom lasange burnt to a crisp (photo evidence here), even though it was turned off an hour early, on the lowest setting, and the sweet potato curry was bland.

Fortunately, I found a better alternative, The Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker, by Lynn Alley. More on that next month.

38. Distrust That Particular Flavor, by William Gibson
(Putnam, 2012)

No Language is Neutral, by Dionne Brand39. No Language is Neutral, by Dionne Brand
(McClelland & Stewart, 1990, 1998)

40. A Woman Alone on the Atikokan Highway, by Jeanette Lynes
(Wolsak and Wynn, 1999)

I browsed a few poems from another collection by her while at Stuart Ross’s Poetry Boot Camp and fell in love. I’m now actively collecting and reading her work, beginning with this, her first book of poetry. It is excellent.

41. The Sentinel, by AF Moritz
(House of Anansi Press, 2008)

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