Tag Archives: book review

by | November 10, 2025 · 6:20 am

Review of Merril D. Smith’s HELD INSIDE THE FOLDS OF TIME

Here is my book review of Merril D. Smith‘s beautiful new poetry collection. I hope it makes you want to order a copy!

Merril D. Smith’s new poetry collection, Held Inside the Folds of Time, is a testament to Smith’s background as a historian. But what is more important is Smith’s sensitivity to previous generations. She opens the collection with a poem about a cave painting. By doing so, he connects us with all who have come before.

She recognizes what she’s learned from her ancestors, who–in “How I Learned”–“showed me that I have my own wings– / unfold them, fly. This, too, is part of the pattern.” The poet can’t or won’t get away from them: “My dead follow me through every timeline” (“Suspended, Surrounded”).

Smith’s ancestors who immigrated to the United States, her own family of origin, even the soldiers who died in a Revolutionary War battle are all subjects of the book. “In Memorium: For the Unknown Soldiers at Red Bank Battlefield” asserts “their ghosts roam the battlefield / settling their bones, unsettled in time.”

Nature features prominently in Smith’s poetry, and this is where the lyrical beauty of her writing is best displayed. She uses many poetic techniques, particularly variations of rhyme, such as off rhyme, end rhyme, and internal rhyme. These lines are from “Cross-Quarter Days”:

The blooms have browned,

blossoms scattered to the wind

now snow veils the ground,

there above, one bony root unpinned.”

While the poems contain examples of the beauty of life, the overall tone of the book is a lovely mournfulness. As Smith writes in “Winter Birches,” “there is no happily ever, only after.”

Held Inside the Folds of Time demonstrates the potential gorgeousness of language as it mourns and celebrates the poet’s world.

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by | October 27, 2025 · 5:20 am

Elizabeth Gauffreau’s Masterful New Novel, A Review

Liz Gauffreau is a master of historical fiction. And rather than creating a series (so far), she has written completely different books with different historical settings. I loved Telling Sonny, and now I love The Weight of Snow and Regret.

Here is my review of the latter. At the end I’ll share with you how you can purchase the book!

***

Elizabeth Gauffreau’s new novel, The Weight of Snow and Regret, is a tribute to the residents of the Sheldon Poor Farm in Sheldon Springs, Vermont, as well as testament to the harsh lives of society’s disadvantaged. The novel takes place in 1967-68, the last year of the tenure of the poorhouse. But the plight of the poor and culture-rocking events of that year resonate with familiarity with contemporary readers.

The first part of the story weaves in the life of Louisianian Claire and how she falls from her place in middle-class society to living in the poorhouse far from home. In this way, the reader is drawn into the novel through the perspective of this mysterious woman, then the reader is delivered into the capable hands of Hazel, a sympathetic foster child grown into a compassionate woman who now runs the home itself while her husband manages the associated farm. Through Hazel’s kindness and perspective, we meet the other residents of the poorhouse.

The place hasn’t always been run as Hazel manages it. Before her hard work, dedication, and home management skills, the neglect was extreme. Every surface was filthy, with trash strewn about. The residents’ clothing was in desperate need of laundering. In fact, Hazel believes that the men’s underwear had never been cleaned. Hazel cleans the home immaculately, creates wholesome meals with a tiny budget, and gives the residents the care and understanding that they need.

These residents range from the forgotten elderly to the mentally ill to those with intellectual disabilities. Although they respond differently to events, and their interactions with each other can be fraught, Gauffreau’s exploration of their behavior and treatment rings true. One twist is that Hazel herself lived in this poorhouse at one time. A couple of the residents from her childhood time at the shelter are still living there when Hazel takes over. This feels like a gut punch to her to think of them still living in the conditions she and her family had undergone.

Gauffreau meticulously researched the history of the home, poor farm life in the sixties and before, the blues music that spoke to Claire’s troubled and depressed soul, the national and world headlines of the time, and local history. Her painstaking implementation of her research with her compassionate feel for the characters, and her excellent storytelling senses makes this an engrossing read. I read far into the night, without being able to put down the book.

***

Purchase from your preferred book seller.

Help Meals on Wheels!

Purchase the paperback from the publisher, and $5.00 of the purchase price will be donated to AgeWell Meals on wheels of Franklin County, Vermont.

Purchase paperback from Paul Stream Press.

 

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by | September 21, 2025 · 5:20 am

Book Tour Stop: Book Review of Deborah Brasket’s When Things Go Missing

I’m thrilled to be part of the blog tour for the new novel written by Deborah Brasket whose blog Writing on the Edge of the Wild  I’ve been reading almost as long as I have been blogging.  I’ve reviewed this very special book, and I’d love for you to read the review, hoping that will motivate you to pick it up for yourself.

EBOOK GIVEAWAY The top 3 people who leave the most likes and comments on the participating blogs will be emailed a free eBook of When Things Go Missing (epub or mobi) PLUS two extra chapters (pdf or doc file)

***

REVIEW

As I began reading Deborah Brasket’s debut novel, When Things Go Missing, I was expecting a smart and well-written story since I had been reading Brasket’s thoughtful blog for at least ten years. What I didn’t expect was such gorgeous writing, significant and densely woven themes and images, or how strongly the book would make me feel.

This novel is the story of a traditionally structured family of four and how the pieces that are the individuals fit together—smoothly, imperfectly, and jaggedly. The mother leaves one day without saying goodbye or providing a destination. At that point, daughter, son, and husband all respond differently, depending on their relationship with Mom/Frannie. As might be expected, they feel as if the center of the family is gone, leaving them with only tenuous connections to each other.

When Franny leaves town, her son, Cal, is a heroin addict who relies on the help of a rotating roster of enablers—including his mother—to give him money or a place to stay. The younger child, Kay, is a graduate student in archaeology, focused on finding a place for herself in her field. They both rely on their mother emotionally, but with the maternal tenderness spigot suddenly all but closed tight, they struggle to discover who they are and how they can succeed in life whether their mother is a part of their day-to-day lives or not.

The character portraits are carefully drawn. Brasket captures not only Cal’s addictive personality, but his sister’s love wrapped in resentment for the way he siphons attention for negative reasons. Even if the characters and their fascinating evolution throughout the book were all When Things Go Missing has to offer, it would be enough. I couldn’t look away for an instant. Every moment was a surprise and yet each new action made absolute sense for these people and their troubles and their conflicted emotions for each other.

Anyone who has an addict in their lives will be able to relate to this book at a profound level. Anyone who is part of a dysfunctional family group will be compelled to learn from the psychology at work here. And, finally, any parent who ever wanted to just get away from everyone and everything to search for peace and to find themselves, will feel a connection with the character who is missing throughout the novel—Franny herself. Where Franny finds herself will surprise and please you. The character her husband and children find within themselves will gratify you. I promise.

When Things Go Missing made me cry. I could not stop thinking about it when I finished reading. Frankly, I was stunned by the beauty and the brilliance.

***

Following you will find the book information, description, and author bio–as well as the blog tour schedule.

PUBLISHER: Sea Stone Press
PUB DATE: September 22, 2025
PAGE COUNT: 352
FORMAT: E-book $8.99, paperback $14,95, hardback $21.95
AVAILABLE NOW at Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and all major retailers.

ABOUT WHEN THINGS GO MISSING
When Fran Albright turns fifty, she heads to the grocery store and keeps going until she reached the tip of South America, leaving behind an empty hole in the lives of her bewildered family. Her daughter Kay scrambles to finish her master’s degree while trying to glue the family back together. Her son Cal is torn between grief and rage as he fights his own addictions and demons without her there to help. And Walter tracks his wife’s journey southward with her credit card purchases, continuing to care for her as he always has, before heading north to Alaska. Adding to the mystery of the mother’s disappearance are the elated messages she leaves on Kay’s phone and the strange photos she sends Cal, who studies them like hieroglyphs he must decipher to save her and save himself.

When Things Go Missing is a masterful exploration of loss, loyalty, and self-renewal. Told through the viewpoints of Kay, Cal, and Walter, this emotionally rich, mystery-driven family drama is wrapped up in a propulsive page-turner you cannot help getting swept up in.

GENRES: Book Club Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family Saga, Women’s Fiction, Sibling
Fiction, Addiction Fiction, Introspective Family Drama, Healing and Self-Renewal

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After sailing around the world with her husband and children, teaching literature to college students, and fighting for affordable housing as the leader of a nonprofit, Deborah J Brasket finally settled down among the golden hills and vineyards of California’s central coast to write the kinds of novels she loves to read.
http://www.deborahjbrasket.com
seastonepress@gmail.com

WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Author website and blog, Deborah J. Brasket, Author ~ Writing on the Edge of the Wild –

Novels

Substack Newsletter, https://deborahbrasket.substack.com/

Facebook, Deborah J. Brasket, Writer –  https://www.facebook.com/DeborahJBrasket/

Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55448191.Deborah_J_Brasket

Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/dbrasket/

LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-brasket-39384370/

 

BOOK BLOG PARTICIPANTS

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by | February 24, 2025 · 4:21 pm

Review of Robert Okaji’s Our Loveliest Bruises

Robert Okaji’s new poetry collection Our Loveliest Bruises can be considered his greatest work, truly a magnum opus. The spare language belies the beautiful compelling imagery as it probes the depths of emotion.

Some of the poems have been published in various literary journals and anthologies, but the book is a tightly woven project of loss and grief. Okaji uses the Japanese bamboo flute shakuhachi as a metaphor for these emotions. Throughout the book, in various poems, the poet breathes his life force into the holes of the instrument, producing notes which are akin to his poems. The holes represent the absences of loss. Eventually, in “Self-Portrait as Shakuhachi,” the poet becomes the flute: “How easy to let air / slide through oneself.”

The poet’s mother’s ghost is a recurring character. She does not communicate, but there is a sense of competition between the two. The imagery in these poems is rough and realistic. There is a sense of profound regret, but also of love. From “Ghost, with a Line from Porchia”:

Your battle with language, with silence, invoked.
I stretch the word and weave this dirge for you.

Some poems address a “you,” and I believe in many cases this person is his mother’s ghost. But it could mean the poet himself. There are instances in some poems that point out the brief nature of life itself or are a merging of mother and self and perhaps even a universal human message. “Each day lived is one less to live,” Okaji writes in “Mother’s Day.”

Robert Okaji has written an extraordinary account of the “loveliest bruises” we experience from the love we have for loved ones, of self, of life itself.

***

Bob Okaji blogs at O at the Edges. If you haven’t read his blog you might not realize that Bob was diagnosed with late stage metastatic lung cancer. He has posted a couple of times on his blog about his illness. He continues to do well, although he doesn’t always feel that great.

Bob is the person who first introduced me to the Tupelo 30/30 poem challenge. I think that challenge really motivated me into writing more and more poetry.

Click the link to Bob’s blog so you can send him some good vibes. And then, if you can, click the link to his gorgeous book.

Our Loveliest Bruises

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by | August 26, 2024 · 12:21 pm

Simple Pleasures: My Review of the New Elizabeth Gauffreau Poetry Collection

 

What a pleasure to open Elizabeth Gauffreau’s new book, Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right. Every page features a beautiful nature photo with an accompanying haiku. Combining poem with image creates a new art genre, one where each component gives more meaning to the other.

The first page displays a peaceful dirt road surrounded by evergreens. The poet invites the reader to accompany her on this trip through the natural beauty of the northeastern United States:

dirt road adventure

washboard, slapping branches, ruts

GPS turned off

I love that the GPS is turned off so that instead of following technology, we—poet and reader—are opening ourselves to the adventure.

Gauffreau directs us to majestic vistas, but she also points out the small or almost unnoticeable, such as a dappled woods image where you must look carefully or be directed by the poem:

new-growth pines, maples

farmer’s forgotten stone wall

a forest reclaimed

I learned things from the poems, which should not be surprising as Gauffreau seems so at home in the region.

stand of white birches

roots entwined canopy shared

indigenous trees

I hadn’t thought of birches as being Indigenous, so that was a bit of defamiliarizing the familiar, I suppose, as it made me take note. And it reminded me of the Robert Frost (another New England poet) poem, “Birches.”

The book is organized by the seasons of the year and makes a full cycle of the beauty of the area. Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right makes a gorgeous addition to my collection of Elizabeth Gauffreau books, Telling Sonny and Grief Songs. Heads up, though, I would recommend purchasing the paperback version because you will want to flip open the book often.

###

 Author Biography

Elizabeth Gauffreau writes fiction and poetry with a strong connection to family and place. Her work has been widely published in literary magazines, as well as several themed anthologies. Her short story “Henrietta’s Saving Grace” was awarded the 2022 Ben Nyberg  prize for fiction by Choeofpleirn Press.

She has published a novel, Telling Sonny, and a collection of photopoetry, Grief Songs: Poems of Love & Remembrance. She is currently working on a novel, The Weight of Snow and Regret, based on the closing of the last poor farm in Vermont in 1968.

Liz’s professional background is in nontraditional higher education, including academic advising, classroom and online teaching, curriculum development, and program administration. She received the Granite State College Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018. Liz lives in Nottingham, New Hampshire with her husband. Find her online at https://lizgauffreau.com.

Book2Read Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/SimplePleasures

Print & Fixed EPUB for tablets and Kindle Fire

BookFunnel PDF Purchase Link: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/gef1ili6qd

For any device.

Blog Tour Host Links: https://lizgauffreau.com/simple-pleasures-blog-tour-links/

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by | February 8, 2024 · 10:37 am

Review of Britney Spears’ Memoir

The other day I finished reading Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me. It was my daughter’s book, and she read it first. I have a few thoughts, but first thought I would share the NY Times review. It does a great job of describing the meat of the book–what Britney says she has gone through with her family, career, love life, and mental health. It doesn’t mention the quality of the writing. Leave that to me ;).

If you find a paywall in the following article and would like to read , email me at luanne[dot]castle[at]gmail[dot]com.

***

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-spears-woman-in-me.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-spears-woman-in-me.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-spears-woman-in-me.html

***

The Woman in Me was actually written by ghostwriter Sam Lansky, a music journalist, along with Britney. So I do think that what is most important about the book is exactly what the NY Times reviewer wrote about: Britney’s life as she sees it.

But let me mention why I was interested in reading about Britney. I’m not a big fan of pop music, especially anything post 70s, but I did like “Toxic” and a few other songs; however, I wasn’t a fan per se. I’ve followed her career because my daughter, who is 5 or 6 years younger than Britney, was a huge fan. Such a big fan that when my daughter, a dancer and singer from a young age, was in callbacks for a regional theatre production (that was local to us) at age fifteen, she ran out in the middle in order to make it in time to a Britney concert.

Since she meant so much to my daughter, I kept up with Britney’s outer world. Britney started her career, truly, with her stint on the Mickey Mouse Club where she met other kids who went on to become famous, such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling. My daughter who was very talented at dance from a young age begged me repeatedly to take her to Los Angeles to audition for . . . everything. We lived a couple of hours away, so it wouldn’t have been impossible to do this. But I’ve always thought that we have clear evidence that the life of a child performer is dangerous. It tends to screw up their adult lives. And I think in many cases–and this is true in Britney’s case–it corrupts the adults who are supposed to be safeguarding the child. I (and my daughter’s dad was in complete agreement) would not let her audition for anything out of our local area until she was an adult. By then she was off to college, studying musical theatre.

Reading this memoir confirmed for me that I had made the right decision for my daughter because what she found out as an adult is that the performing world is difficult even for adults. We see Britney now as a vulnerable, mentally ill woman, but what she has gone through has undoubtedly been horrific for her and her mental health. I still believe I was right that the #freeBritney movement was correct. Her imprisonment by her father should have led to his imprisonment in a U.S. prison, in my opinion. I wish there was better mental health care for Britney Spears and the millions of other sufferers, but unfortunately our mental health system is not good. And someone as rich and famous as Britney was a real target–especially by those close to her.

I promised I would address the quality of the writing of the book. Let me put it this way. Last night I asked my daughter what she thought about the book. The first thing she said was that she read it thinking what I, a writer, thought about the writing of it. “It seemed disjointed and choppy. Did you think so?” Yup, I sure did. Events were out of sequence for no good reason. For a ghostwritten book, it could have been so much better. I have no idea how hard it was for Sam Lansky to work with Britney or how much editing she did of the book herself, but the quality of the writing is subpar. Even so, I couldn’t put the book down because I wanted to hear about Britney’s life from her perspective, and that was worth it to me.

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by | December 28, 2023 · 3:35 pm

Joy Neal Kidney’s Latest Leora Book in the Wilson Family Saga

Joy Neale Kidney has documented an American saga of hard work, dedication, patriotism, and above all, sacrifice with her four Leora Books. I have reviewed Leora’s Dexter Stories, Leora’s Letters, and Leora’s Early Years previously.These first three volumes tell the Wilson family history and the tragedy of losing three sons to WWII through the mother, Leora’s, perspective. The fourth book in the series, What Leora Never Knew: A Granddaughter’s Quest for Answers, describes Kidney’s own search for more answers about her uncles’ military careers.

The book contains heartbreaking information, such as Leora receiving news of Dale being MIA on her birthday. Dale’s sister Doris was pregnant and had only told Dale in a letter. But the letter was returned to her, “marked ‘Missing in Action.’” Kidney puts together information and shares it in an easy-to-read style. For instance, the Wilsons received three notes from radio operators that Dale had been taken POW by the Japanese, but this was never confirmed. The information included personal identity info that was not on their ID tags. Where would the Japanese have gotten this information if they didn’t have Dale?

I love that Kidney included images of documentation and letters. The visuals help to connect the reader to these difficult days that her family went through. A poignant section is when Kidney realizes that Dale had a diary and how it was separated from his other belongings. I could tell you more, but why don’t you just read the book? You might want to read the other three before you get to this one or if you want to get right to this one, consider at least reading Leora’s Letters, the first book, the one where I learned that all three men had died during the war, a book that reduced me to tears in a doctor’s waiting room.

Instead of commenting here, feel free to head on over to Joy’s blog and comment over there if you want to say hi! https://joynealkidney.com/

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by | November 14, 2023 · 9:00 am

Yay for Wonderful Reviews and #TankaTuesday

Our Wolves, my Red Riding Hood poetry chapbook, was reviewed by fantasy and science fiction writer D. (Diana) Wallace Peach for her October Book Reviews: https://mythsofthemirror.com/2023/10/31/october-book-reviews-2/. I love her review. She says,  “these are thoughtful and provocative poems that I found stirring, raw, and deeply insightful. They’re also beautifully written with gorgeous but accessible language, providing glimmers into the lives and stories of girls everywhere.”

Diana posted the review on Amazon where it is keeping company with another new and fabulous review by writer Wilma Kahn: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R31IC9DU4DZING/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0BTKNP31D. The ending of her review is so cool: “Love the poetry. Embrace the shock.”

It feels so rewarding to have readers take the time to write reviews for my books. Makes me happy.

On the same subject of poetry, I read a hilarious article in The Onion, a master of satire. It’s the funniEST if you know that most poets make nothing from their books as the costs of promotion in both money and time outweigh the royalties. https://www.theonion.com/sellout-poet-made-over-150-in-2023-alone-1851012377

For #TankaTuesday, Colleen Chesebro challenged poets to write three tankas using specific kigo as either first lines or pivot lines.
#1: “the first month with sleet”
#2: “late winter garden”
#3: “blanket by the fire”

Here are mine. It took a little weirdness since we still have gorgeous weather in Arizona.

the first month with sleet

and a howling, freezing wind

first weeks of snowfalls

that melt even as they touch

the earth not yet full-frozen

*

outside I linger

among the curling petals

late winter garden

a place for thoughts of the past

a place for wishes to come

*

in Arizona

we look ahead to winter

blanket by the fire

both cuddling with the kitties

will it come or will fall stay

###

I also wrote a tanka about the contrast of our Arizona weather and my family’s Michigan weather.

[Beginning of Winter in Arizona versus Michigan]

A fall breeze upset

my skirt on my daily walk.

Lone sign of winter.

My brother in Michigan

raked fallen leaves for hours.

###

My kigo is fallen leaves and fall breeze (instead of autumn wind).

Japanese woodcut print by Kamisaka Sekka
Japanese woodcut print by Kamisaka Sekka by New York Public Library is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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by | October 5, 2023 · 7:36 pm

Carol Balawyder Reviews Our Wolves

One of my favorite novelists, Carol Balawyder, has written a loooovely review of my chapbook Our Wolves. I am so grateful for her reading!!!

Luanne Castle: Our Wolves
Once upon a time /
Once upon a time / by Library of Congress is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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by | August 8, 2023 · 5:15 am

This Week’s #TankaTuesday

While reading poetry books is the heart of The Sealey Challenge, I do like to write reviews when I can.

Here is my review of Christine Butterworth McDermott’s new poetry collection that Harbor Review published. https://www.harbor-review.com/the-spellbook-of-fruit-and-flowers

Here are some reviews of poetry books I recently posted on Goodreads:

Margaret Duda’s I Come From Immigrants (note: book is similar in content to Elizabeth Gauffreau’s Grief Songs, since it is memoir-ish poetry paired with personal photographs)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/180625112-i-come-from-immigrants

Laurie Kuntz has two recent books out, and both of them are wonderfully personal about her relationships with husband and adult son.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59748231-the-moon-over-my-mother-s-house

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80351487-talking-me-off-the-roof

#TANKATUESDAY

Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday poetry prompt for this week is to write a syllabic poem using collective animal nouns.

Topic: Collective animal nouns

A murder of crows

brings me stones and an earring

for feeding their young.

My dearest clowder of cats

whines all day long for their food.

**

I had to look up whether to use singular or plural for the verbs. It was hard for me to determine the correct usage, but it seems that this tanka called for a singular verb.

Cute kitties below are my daughter’s kittens, but this photo is already months old! They are playing Mouse for Cats on my iPad.

REVIEW OF ROOTED AND WINGED

Richard Allen Taylor published a review of my collection Rooted and Winged in the new issue of Main Street Rag. I think it’s a pretty funny review. Posting images of the journal pages.

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