Category Archives: Book Review

by Luanne | May 17, 2023 · 5:15 am

Robbie Cheadle’s Guest on Treasuring Poetry

I’m excited to be author and blogger Robbie Cheadle’s May guest for her monthly Treasuring Poetry article on Writing to be Read. She had some wonderful questions for me about writing, and I enjoyed answering them! You can find the publication here: https://writingtoberead.com/2023/05/17/treasuring-poetry-meet-poet-and-blogger-luanne-castle-and-a-review-poetry-poetrycommunity-bookreview/. Robbie has also posted a beautiful review of both Rooted and Winged and Our Wolves.

With son and DIL living here, we have their dog Theo here as well. He’s such a little goofy guy, and I get to let him out when his mom and dad are both gone for three hours or more. I can’t physically handle walking him on a leash, although in a pinch I can take him on the driveway on a leash because he’s very good for me. But I like to let him roam the backyard, which is fenced. He’s very loved and what’s rewarding for me is that he loves his Grandma! In his photo you can see a very typical expression he gets on his face as he is always trying to figure out what’s going on.

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Tagged as #amwriting, book review, Creative writing, favorite poems, granddog, interview, Poem, Poetry, poetry collection, Robbie Cheadle, Writing, Writing to be Read

by Luanne | May 8, 2023 · 3:39 pm

Our Wolves: Readers’ Thoughts

Our Wolves has received some lovely and “interesting” attention that I thought I would share with you.

There are some wonderful reviews on Goodreads (and Amazon), including those by veteran reviewers Elizabeth Gauffreau, Suanne Schafer, a couple of Library Things reviewers, etc. I also received my first one star rating ever!!! Yes, “Donna” wrote: “An interesting take on Red Riding Hood. Dark and shades of abuse. Might be someone else’s cup of tea but not mine.” Apparently, even though it’s an interesting take, because it’s not her cup of tea, it warrants a one star.

Read the reviews here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111018194-our-wolves

You can purchase a copy here for $10.99: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Wolves-Luanne-Castle/dp/B0BTKNP31D/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q5U4FV04LXCI&keywords=our+wolves&qid=1683584909&sprefix=our+wolves%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1

Little Red-Riding Hood's Meeting With the Wolf — Little Red-Riding Hood’s Meeting With the Wolf by John Doyle is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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Tagged as #OurWolves, book review, fairy tale poems, Goodreads, poems about Red Riding Hood, poetry chapbook, poetry collection, Red Riding Hood

by Luanne | April 13, 2023 · 5:15 am

Review of Rooted and Winged AND Our Wolves

Writer Joy Neal Kidney has written a review for both my full-length collection Rooted and Winged and Our Wolves. Thank you, Joy!

New Poetry by Luanne Castle

Review of Our Wolves by Robbie Cheadle

Our Wolves has been given a lovely review by Robbie Cheadle! A big thank you to Robbie!

https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2023/04/06/robbies-inspiration-book-review-wolves-by-luanne-castle-poetry-poetrycommunity/

“If you like interesting and thought provoking poetry, you will love Our Wolves.“

On another note, I looked for an African-American Red doll for my collection and found a gorgeous one on ebay by artist Stacy Bayne: $250! Here’s a link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/225374443246 While I can’t justify that (hah), it’s certainly beautiful. Here’s one of my $20 antique mall goodies.

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Tagged as #OurWolves, book review, Elizabeth Gauffreau, Goodreads, Our Wolves, Poetry, poetry chapbook, poetry collection, Suanne Schafer

by Luanne | April 4, 2023 · 12:40 pm

Spring Walk: #TankaTuesday

Colleen at Wordcraft poetry suggested this prompt today: to write a shadorma using 3-5 selected words. Syllable count is 3-5-3-3-7-5. I think I used 8 of the words, but I am writing the poem on my iPad in this post so I can’t go over the word list again.

Spring Walk

This spring month,

not yet hot, cloudy

over rocks

and bushes,

I walk with a book and grapes

and wish spring to last.

I hope you enjoyed that, especially knowing how hot it will get here in Arizona by mid-May. I am lying on my back with this iPad because I am resting my legs. For over ten weeks my right leg has been a monster. Saturday I had an MRI, but I’ve had other tests with no diagnosis or idea of what’s wrong. So why did I write about walking? For one thing, it’s a word on the list. But I can and do like to do light walking with the leg issue. But then I have to rest it. And the leg prefers very limited sitting (at the computer).

Serena Agusto-Cox on Savvy Verse & Wit has written a great review for my Red Riding Hood chapbook Our Wolves: https://savvyverseandwit.com/2023/04/our-wolves-by-luanne-castle.html She argues that the poems are not retellings of Red Riding Hood. Read her review to see what she says they are.

person in red coat in grassfield — Photo by Hebert Santos on Pexels.com

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by Luanne | March 29, 2023 · 9:23 am

Desert Mountain Landscape: #TankaTuesday

Colleen at Wordcraft poetry suggested this prompt today: to write a syllabic poem about what you see out of your window.

The gardener and I were driving on the freeway in western Arizona yesterday, and I saw something unusual: two sheep were picking their way down the mountainside out in the “middle of nowhere.” So I wrote a tanka in the car.

My tanka topic is Scene Through a Car Window:

A hawk flies above

saguaro-studded mountains

in yellow blossom

as two bighorn sheep descend,

their coronas glinting light.

green cactus plants on mountain — Photo by Justin Nealey on Pexels.com

This image at Pexels looks very similar to where I saw the sheep except that they were walking down a fairly steep mountain. And right now the brittlebush is in full bright yellow bloom. At first I thought they were goats because they were so graceful and agile amidst the shrub and rocks. But their large curved horns seem to indicate that they were bighorn sheep (although slender for bighorns).

I read another review for my Red Riding Hood chapbook Our Wolves: https://abookishwayoflife.blogspot.com/2023/03/our-wolves-by-luanne-castle.html?fbclid=IwAR0XL2jnDa_2NyGcAFdKXUCgjcWr8zJl0LWwxtuvRP17kV98y6CBZyekO2E

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Filed under #amwriting, #TankaTuesday, Arizona, Book Review, Cats and Other Animals, Poetry, Writing, Writing prompt

Tagged as #amwriting, #TankaTuesday, Arizona mountains, bighorn sheep, Poetry, syllabic poetry, tanka, Writing prompt

by Luanne | March 24, 2023 · 5:15 am

Our Wolves Book Tour: 2 Lovely Reviews

Marie A. Bailey had written a review of Our Wolves that looks at the autobiographical nature of some of the poems. This is what I love about poetry: how it can be specific and universal, as well as open to different interpretations. Read what she has to say here: https://1writeway.wordpress.com/2023/03/23/in-the-company-of-wolves-bookreview-poetrycommunity/

The wolf dressed up as Grandma:

A bookstagrammer, Books Parlour, has posted a review of Our Wolves as well:

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by Luanne | March 21, 2023 · 5:15 am

Two More Visits on the Our Wolves Book Tour

Deborah Brasket has written a very smart review of Our Wolves. I love how she notices the “slippery, slantwise versions” of Red Riding Hood in the book. You can find her review here (and check out her beautiful blog while you’re there): https://deborahjbrasket.com/2023/03/19/red-the-wolf-slant-wise-and-slippery/

True Book Addict has also written a loverly review of Our Wolves. http://www.truebookaddict.com/2023/03/our-wolves-by-luanne-castle-review.html The reviewer says: “I don’t think I’ve ever read a collection quite like this. I have an extensive poetry collection and I know I will be returning to this volume again and again.”

Yesterday a Bookstagrammer named Genia Blum @bookscarves shared Our Wolves with a gorgeous Hermès scarf.

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Tagged as #OurWolves, book review, Our Wolves, Poetry, poetry chapbook, poetry collection

by Luanne | March 16, 2023 · 9:24 am

Another Visit on the Our Wolves Book Tour

We have another stop on the Our Wolves blog tour! A delightful book review by Anthony Avina can be found here: https://authoranthonyavinablog.com/2023/03/16/our-wolves-by-luanne-castle-review/?fbclid=IwAR3-P-XbBCjBaFroFc7rxfhvOULUEFcPVW16-vFil_aZtXOFHd7lenJeK8c

“Heartfelt, memorable, and captivating, author Luanne Castle’s “Our Wolves” is a masterful and engaging poem collection.” Anthony Avina

I love these Red Riding Hood Russian nesting dolls because Red is the largest doll and swallows up the others! And who is that littlest one?

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by Luanne | March 13, 2023 · 5:15 am

An Award and a Review–a Good Day for Rooted and Winged

I have a little Rooted and Winged news. It’s a Book Excellence Winner in Poetry! Oh yeah, baby.

This is a nice little present to me for the work I put into the book.

Poet Carol Bachofner has posted a review of Rooted and Winged on her new Substack newsletter/blog. I hope you enjoy the review. It is the first in a series of poetry book reviews she plans to write. The second one is already up and it’s about Patricia Smith’s Unshuttered. Please consider following Carol’s newsletter as she continues to write about poetry. https://carolbach.substack.com/p/books-that-say-something-we-need?utm_source=facebook&sd=pf&fbclid=IwAR14BDVHsEnnFldy_xIVPNUKNOt0lV658jNbwn_264sDHCAEVxV9Ud3TOdk