Pennie sometimes reminds me of Stevie Smith, sometimes of Robert Burns, sometimes of Dorothy Parker, but her voice is her own—sometimes raw, often wry, always authentic. Not every poem is a masterpiece, but several are. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who likes poetry, and to many people who don’t. Note that many of the poems are in Scots, but even if you stick to the English language poems it’s a rewarding read. (I was able to get the gist of the Scots poems, I think, but I’ve seen several of Pennie’s “Scots word of the day” videos.)
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Writer and software engineer in the US Midwest. I enjoy poetry, horror, some f/sf, some mystery, some literary fiction (but not the kind where the main character is a professor and nothing happens).
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caracabe started reading The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van Der Kolk
![Bessel A. Van Der Kolk: The Body Keeps the Score (2015)](/images/covers/03d12451-8b2d-4dfb-8e03-ce494a15241a.jpeg)
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van Der Kolk
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five …
caracabe reviewed Poyums by Len Pennie
I highly recommend these poyums
5 stars
caracabe finished reading Poyums by Len Pennie
caracabe started reading Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer (The Southern Reach Trilogy)
![Jeff VanderMeer: Acceptance (2014, Macmillan)](/images/covers/751b71b8-5d50-4677-8f85-ffd85f4dd698.jpeg)
Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer (The Southern Reach Trilogy)
From the publisher---
It is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing …
caracabe reviewed The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
The Indian Lake trilogy reaches a thrilling end
4 stars
Not a standalone novel; you need to read the first two books first. But this is a glorious high-speed, multi-car pileup of an ending to the trilogy, if every third car is being driven by a murderer and some of the remaining cars are possessed by ghosts. If Hollywood turns these books into movies, I’ll be first in line to give them my money.
caracabe rated The Angel of Indian Lake: 4 stars
![Stephen Graham Jones: The Angel of Indian Lake (2024, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers)](/images/covers/the-angel-of-indian-lake-9781668011669_xlg.jpg)
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t …
caracabe finished reading The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
![Stephen Graham Jones: The Angel of Indian Lake (2024, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers)](/images/covers/the-angel-of-indian-lake-9781668011669_xlg.jpg)
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t …
caracabe started reading Poyums by Len Pennie
caracabe reviewed Mexican Poetry by Samuel Beckett
caracabe finished reading Mexican Poetry by Samuel Beckett
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caracabe started reading The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
![Stephen Graham Jones: The Angel of Indian Lake (2024, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers)](/images/covers/the-angel-of-indian-lake-9781668011669_xlg.jpg)
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t …
caracabe reviewed Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
4 stars
Orlando is the fictional biography of an Elizabethan nobleman who becomes a woman and lives on into the 20th century, where they quickly become adept at road rage. For all its weirdness, this is one of the more accessible of Woolf’s novels. Among other things, the story examines the nature of gender, of sexuality, and (since Orlando is a poet) of literature. Be prepared to stumble over moments of casual racism.
caracabe finished reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf
![Virginia Woolf: Orlando (1992)](/images/covers/e28c1be5-9888-47df-96e3-2fc123dfad02.jpeg)
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
In her most exuberant, most fanciful novel, Woolf has created a character liberated from the restraints of time and sex. …