Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC!
This is one of those books I want to own and have a copy off on my shelf and give to peThank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC!
This is one of those books I want to own and have a copy off on my shelf and give to people I love. They truly do not make anthologies like this all that often; which is, to say, that it is absolutely wonderful.
Maria Popova has put together a beautiful collection of poems that are interesting and really good, and accompanied each with a concept to be explored. She herself, writes beautifully, like a poet writing prose, each word saturated with love. She reminds us of the beauty and imagination in science, a field that has often been called cold because of its focus on rationality.
I would put her in the company of some of my favourites like James Crews and William Seighart, and I can't wait for the next collection she puts together; although I should tell her that the bar is incredibly high now.
I would never recommend a poetry collection to my grandmother, who has much better taste than I do in literature, but this is one I would not hesitate to give her. I know that compliment might not mean much to someone, but it's the highest one I can give.
The illustrations by Ofra Amit were also a lovely touch!
The main character Mina knows how to tell stories, and she has to tell them in order to try and revive the Sea God, and save The book made me tear up.
The main character Mina knows how to tell stories, and she has to tell them in order to try and revive the Sea God, and save her village. Of course, we have the mysterious Shin who protects the Sea God in his slumber, but apparently has no soul. We have the goddess of motherhood who needs bribes to answer prayers, we have the goddess of the moon who seems to want to kill Mina for a reason I still don’t understand. We also have these really interesting spirits who seem to be helping her for absolutely no reason but the banter.
“What if someone told you your fate was to climb up the highest waterfall and jump off ? Or to hurt the person you love most in the world? Or worse, to hurt the person who loves you most in the world? Fate is a tricky thing. It’s not for you, or me, or even the gods, to question what it is . . . or is not.”
And then as Mina puts the pieces of the hundred year old mystery together, you basically want to cry. I mean the story of Dai and Miki, when Dai is hurt, and who they all are really are to Mina is insanely sweet and perfect. The way things change between her and Shin especially after the visit to the goddess of motherhood is really nicely done.
“It was the boat that carried her. She would have fallen into the River of Souls if it weren’t for that cradle. Something crafted with so much love could never sink.”
I’d never heard of the folktale ‘The Tale of Shim Cheong,’ before this, but honestly one doesn’t need to in order to love this book. And if you aren’t a fan or haven’t watched spirited away and the other things they mention in the blurb, you really don’t have to. The book is beautiful and lyrical and sucks you in.
“That there is no place you can go so far away from forgiveness. Not from someone who loves you.” ...more
I'm awful at leaving reviews on time and I truly regret that I didn't start this earlier. I did start, I read the introduction, and then I left it to I'm awful at leaving reviews on time and I truly regret that I didn't start this earlier. I did start, I read the introduction, and then I left it to read at a time where I thought I could enjoy each word, and those times never really do come?
I left it because the introduction nearly made me cry. Then bits of the book nearly made me cry. There were tears in my eyes because if you have insomnia you do feel incredibly alone, and you don't know how to make it go away and things never do work until, like Miranda, something sort of did (I don't want to piss of the sleep gods either).
Yes, it doesn't help to think about sleeping, that you're confused to wonder as to why this thing that is meant to be so easy is suddenly so much work, and you try all the things like a cooler room, less coffee, hoping you'll drop, exercise, yoga and routines and you're still there. And it feels weird to be grumpy like a three-year-old, to recognize this is not okay, to deal with the brain fog and then all the worst-case scenarios in your head, to get up and to go down and walk around and read.
Its still a win when you feel like its been 8 hours. Sometimes I'm so angry at my Fitbit for making my sleep less than what it is. Some nights I've learned to pull it off.
This is basically a very long rant to thank Miranda for writing this....more
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