Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories by Etgar Keret
Review Some books entertain us, some make us think, and a few make us see ordinary life a little differently. The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God, a short-story collection by Israeli writer Etgar Keret, falls into the third category. Keret has a distinctive storytelling style. He weaves unexpected situations, dark humor, and a…
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“Only A Cat” by Jutta Ash
“Only A Cat” by Jutta Ash is a charming children’s story that follows Kitten-Cat, a young cat who struggles with feelings of limitation and self-doubt. She tries to mimic other creatures. At first, Kitten-Cat tries hard to copy the other animals around her. He attempted to fly like birds, crack open nuts like squirrels, hop…
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“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott
“Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” Don’t think about finishing the whole novel or story. Focus on the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next scene. Every large project becomes manageable when broken into small pieces.
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“21 Days to Awaken the Writer Within” by Lisa Fugard
Major Lessons from “21 Days to Awaken the Writer Within” by Lisa Fugard “Words can turn into concrete on a screen, paragraphs become stone monoliths, and there can be a hesitancy to get in there and change structure. Do this with sentences, and soon you will be shifting your paragraphs around as well.” Writing, like…
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“Cancer Courts My Mother” by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
“Cancer Courts My Mother” by LindaAnn LoSchiavo “When medicine has nothing more to give, There’s only daughters and morphine prescribed By doctors never seen. She can’t describe Her suffering but seems less combative Since Cancer came a-courting. He’ll forgive Coy hesitance. All patients yield to bribes Of pain relief, embrace the death of light. Seductive,…
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“You’ve Got it All Wrong” by Ken Tomaro
“You’ve Got it All Wrong” by Ken Tomaro. “I cleaned the apartment today, changed the lightbulb in the refrigerator and made stew from the leftover lamb my sister didn’t eat I’m tired, it’s cold and dark here and I am afraid of what’s out there beyond the glass of the balcony door beyond the neighbor…
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“Writing Between the Lines” by Nolcha Fox
“I leave the me who loved him. to rest upon his body. Now I am someone entirely new. A black dog, a broken heart.” (”Keep Things Simple”) Nolcha Fox is synonymous with experimentation, as evident in her collaborations with Mike Armstrong on “End of Earth” and Ken Tomaro on “Seesaw, Quirky Poems.” She startled, amazed,…
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“BroKen Rengay: Unruly Poetry” by Nolcha Fox, Melissa Lemay, and Barbara Leonhard
” Pain is the perfect weight loss plan Food tastes bitter Even cheesecake makes me flee.” (From “Pain Will Do That”) “BroKen Rengay: Unruly Poetry” challenges the traditional Japanese poetry style of rengay with a fresh, modern twist. Nolcha Fox, Melissa Lemay, and Barbara Leonhard co-authored 30 six-part poems that combine cleverness, honesty, sharp social…
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“101 Stories of Love” by William Waldorf
“101 Stories of Love” by William Waldorf caught my attention because I expected an anthology of love stories. But love takes many forms, and Waldorf shows this in his beautifully crafted poetry. In his collection, love echoes through many voices, sometimes as an isosceles triangle or baked in the desert like forgotten toast. William Waldorf’s…
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“Uninhibited Beat Poetry” by Elliot M. Rubin
if god were a woman “there would be no war she could not bear her children maimed, killed, tortured or the poor denied medical help or food in her name a mother cares therefore god is not a woman but a tool for cruelty by cold-hearted men with a passion for destruction and self-preservation with…
Got any book recommendations?