I didn't have time to collect any links this week. It's amazing what can get done in the few hours the kid is in school. Anyway, John is sending me Coureurs de Bois by Bruce MacDonald since I won the Canadian Book Challenge giveaway this week. No it's not in French. Thanks, John.

← I received a beautiful book for my birthday.
Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair.
The poetry of Pablo Neruda.
I started going through these poems today and I am finding them to be just amazing.

1. The drive is often the best thing about traveling.
2. I love a good snuggle with my husband when I'm cold.
3. I often use pasta when I am cooking.
4. I'm reading Little Women right now; I love it.

Checking it twice. Okay, I'm making my book lists for 2 future challenges:

The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge hosted at The Book Mine Set. I'm picking The Free Spirit approach. I don't like being boxed in. Well, mostly it's because I still have a bunch of books I haven't finished for the last challenge. I will do better this time. Here's my list:

Poe's theory about the necessity of writing short poems is in accord with the Industrial Revolution. As societies grow, their poems tend to grow shorter. A peasant will listen to interminable epic poems in the village square; the literary man in big cities reads sonnets in his bath.
-- W.H. Auden –

Have a great Thursday!

Isn't poetry absolutely wonderful though? I mean, really there is something about it that prose writing will never be able to quite get to. Poetry is so not reporting. It's so finicky, it is inherently allowed to appeal to a much smaller audience than prose. It is always such a narrow rolled-up newspaper telescopic opinion of something.
To a certain extent, the fiction shelves have to be saying... "I can appeal to you, you will be able to relate to this, please buy me, BUY ME," but the poetry shelves [more scantily clad and less visited] whisper to no one in particular, "This is what I am. Perhaps no one can relate. But no matter. I am not really for sale."
-- Cipriano –

1. The last compliment I got was from my husband; he/she said I was doing great on a project I have undertaken.
2. I'm reading The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer.
3. I woke up today and thought T.G.I.F!!!!!!!

It was such an awesome surprise to come home after work, well, after Starbucks, after work… and find something crammed into my mailbox in the lobby. I saw the return address and wondered, “Hmmm… what would that Torontonian Nutbar be sending l’il ol’ me?”
← It’s her new book, and it’s really great.

I could not wait. I ripped into the package there in the elevator.
Let me introduce you [as if you don’t already know who I am talking about] to the coolest chick in blogland → Patricia Storms.

180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, edited by Billy Collins

I've been dreading writing this review (even though I should have done so months ago) because I simply have nothing to say about this collection.

I loved it and thoroughly recommend it, but there is absolutely nothing to say about it, other than it's a must-read for poetry fans. But that's not really interesting.

One more from the pen of John Donne; this is a selection from his cycle of Holy Sonnets. It was written after the death of his beloved wife, Anne, who died in childbirth with their 12th child.

Holy Sonnets: Since she whom I lov'd hath paid her last debt

Since she whom I lov'd hath paid her last debt
To nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,
And her soul early into heaven ravished,
Wholly in heavenly things my mind is set.
Here the admiring her my mind did whet
To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;
But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,
A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet.
But why should I beg more love, whenas thou
Dost woo my soul, for hers off'ring all thine,
And dost not only fear lest I allow
My love to saints and angels, things divine,
But in thy tender jealousy dost doubt
Lest the world, flesh, yea devil put thee out.

John Donne

Happy Mother's Day!

To all you Moms, Grandmoms and Wanna-Be Moms. I spend a couple of years in the Wanna-Be category and I know how hard this day can be. So this rose is for you all!

I really earned my day this week. Whew! A hysterical child in the ER is not fun for anyone. Right now kid and hubby are gone to Nanny's house. All is calm. Except for the weather, which I do not want to talk about!

Yesterday my girl had a day off from school so we took a trip to the library. I picked up Olivia by Ian Falconer and talked my girl into taking it home. She's a picky reader. I hadn't read it before but I loved the look of that little pig. I think I must have read it to my girl a dozen times yesterday. We both love Olivia!

I think what I love most about Olivia is how much she is like my girl. I kept stopping while I was reading to say, "You do that too!" Olivia is quite energetic; she wears her mother out. I've said that many a time to my girl. She loves to dance, dress up and sing very loud songs as does my darling daughter. It's always dinner and a show at my house.

The Winter Rose is the book everyone is buzzing about. I've seen it on several blogs and it even got itself a spot on Estella's Revenge this month. Donnelly's publishers should work for Stephane Dion; they run an aggressive campaign. I'm not complaining though. I wasn't saying no when they offered it to me to review.

This week’s question is suggested by (blogless) JMutford:

Sometimes I find eccentric characters quirky and fun, other times I find them too unbelievable and annoying. What are some of the more outrageous characters you’ve read, and how do you feel about them?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

I saw this meme at Fraternity of Dreamers. It's a weird one but it'll give you an interesting view of my world:

What kind of soap is in your shower right now? Ivory Body Wash and Dove Bar Soap (with the little nibblets in it).

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No but I do have a Pomelo.

The Cassie Edwards debacle is being beat to death, I know but I just had to post on this one more time. I was trying not to be too judgemental about her...err... talent, since I never read her books. However, there are enough snippets online now to get a sense of her style.

Title: The Sounds of Poetry
Author: Robert Pinsky
ISBN-13: 9780374526176
Publisher: Farrar, Straux and Giroux/1998
Pages: 117

Robert Pinsky is a poet of US, who teaches graduate writing programme at Boston University. Here in this book, he takes up poetry in the vocal form. He wants that we shoud how to read out poetry loud, where should we pause and where to stop. He gives stress on diction, syntax, accent, verse form..ie..rhymed poetry, metric poetry, free verse and blank verse.

I've been very lucky lately. I won a book from John @ The Book Mine Set and Daphne from the Bronte Bloggers. I need to pass this good luck on!

Since it's Buy a Friend a Book Week and... BIG ANNOUNCEMENT... Linda Wisdom author of 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover will be making a guest appearance here at book-a-rama on April 11, I'm going to give away my gently used (by me) copy of 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover to ONE lucky reader.

Ok...since the end of the year is quickly approaching, I decided to head over to A Novel Challenge and see if there were any challenges that I could add to my list without adding any more books to my schedule. Sort of a challenge within a challenge. I wanted to join this challenge and it worked out perfectly:

hosted by Annie from Words by Annie

Poppet Coco arrived in the mail last week.

The way her head is tilted, it gives me the impression that she's a bit of a diva.

Gourdie ought to know better.

Booking Through Thursday

You should have seen this one coming … Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?
Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

There are so many! For swashbuckling adventure, I love Edmund Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo. Just an average Joe, who's tossed into prison for life, learns the 'art of war'- sort of speak, escapes, acquires unimaginable wealth, plots needlessly complicated revenge and proceeds carrying it out. You know, like anyone would.

Friday Fill-In #49
1. I love the nostalgia surrounding Christmas.
2. Blue is/are my favorite color(s) for the Christmas tree lights.
3. The non-existent candles in the window have non-existent bulbs.
4. A Christmas Story (You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!) is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.
5. My favorite Christmas lyric(s) is/are

Tonight, I finished what I consider to be an essential book.
The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath.
A novel about a woman who lost it!
As in, her mind.

Wonderfully written, even though I still do not know what a bell jar is?
My research has only unearthed that the title referenced the fact that a bell jar essentially traps something to keep it on display. And supposedly, Plath used the bell jar as a metaphor to talk about the repression of women in American society.
See… I did not get that last point at all.
But, I seem to never see feminism when it is supposed to be there.
For instance, I love Margaret Atwood.

In honor of April being National Poetry Month, I signed up for a poem-a-day via Poets.org. Each morning a new poem has arrived in my inbox - not a bad way to begin the day! Go here to sign up for yourself.

Admittedly, not everything I've received thus far has tickled my "awe bone," and many poems receive a cursory read before being deleted. The following poems, however, I just can't bring myself to delete.

I hope you enjoy them.

"Alpha Zulu", by Gary Lilley

"Just", by Alan Shapiro

I'm late with the memes this week...sorry!

1. When my blog is broken, I know it will probably drive me nuts fixing it.

2. I saw the most amazing crowd at the mall this morning!

3. National Treasure: Book of Secrets is the new movie I’m most looking forward to seeing.

4. Work: Necessary and fulfilling at times.

Hey!
A dear reader, and dearer friend, informed me that I share my birthday [December 4th] with a legendary literary figure.
Rainer Maria Rilke, one of the German language’s greatest 20th Century poets. Born in Prague, Bohemia.
Yesterday, I turned 44.
Rilke turned 132.
And I thought I was an old fogey! This guy is ancient!

What new books are you looking forward to most in 2008? Something new being published this year? Something you got as a gift for the holidays? Anything in particular that you’re planning to read in 2008 that you’re looking forward to? A classic, or maybe a best-seller from 2007 that you’re waiting to appear in paperback?