For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle While this book was not quite what I expected, I still really enjoyed it. Rather than a collection of poetry that retells famous fairy tales (my expectation), this was instead a book of poetry that looks at fairy tales through a contemporary lens to comment on various topics such as eating disorders, double standards, societal expectations and standards of beauty, and sexuality in the modern world. The poems create a sense of haunting awe, challenging the reader to rethink everything they thought they knew about the world around them and the fairy tales they grew up with. Paired with gorgeous and thought-provoking photographs, this book is as lovely as it is harrowing. These aren't cushy, comfy, feel-good poems. These are poems that stab at the seams of society and ask the reader to critically examine the outside world. While some of the lines felt crass, especially in terms of sensitive topics like eating disorders, the book on the whole provided an eye-opening view of growing up female. Presented in caustic, mystifying, heartbreaking, magical language, these poems created a real experience.

I fell in love with Moira Fowley-Doyle's style when I read her first book, The Accident Season. I enjoyed her second book as well.

This book blew me away.

Ireland's troubled and abusive history + queer kids + feminism + rage + reproductive rights + magical realism.

Gorgeous words and a powerful story. Highly recommended.

 

Read for the Magical Realism square of Halloween Bingo 2019.

I thought this was a fun, short, sweet, sexy read. I could not get on board with Tom's voice and POV in the beginning, but it settled by the end. He was gruff - and sometimes it was just plain crude-and really pulled me out of the story. However, he was a great hero overall, and someone that came across as genuine in the end. I did struggle with his voice in other way-that it didn't feel authentic. But 2/3 through that irritation vanished. And he was forward and sweet and had some seriously swoony moves.

It was really refreshing and sweet to read about an older couple, though i wish their prior spouses weren't so demonized. Perfect Thanksgiving bridge between buddy reads. Thanks Gaufre!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19614459-apples-should-be-red?ref=discussion_newsfeed_item_link

Ten Apples Up on Top! by Dr. Seuss is a picture book about animals seeing how many apples they can stack on their heads.  This book will help beginning readers read simple rhyming sentences.  Ten Apples Up on Top! also gives teachers a perfect opportunity to have students practice counting to ten and doing math.  An activity that can be done with this book is to have students count by ones to ten using red counters.  Another activity is to have students identify the rhyming words within the book and see if the students could think of anymore words that rhyme with the words in the book.  The Lexile Leveling system rates this book as 200L (1st grade).  

The Apples of Idunn by Matt Larkin is the first installment in The Ragnarok Era series. Odin swears vengeance against the frost giant who killed his father.

Plot 5/5: Excellent plot involving Odin of Norse mythology.

Characters 5/5: Vivid and vibrant characters throughout the story.

World building 5/5: Incredible world building that takes you directly into the world the author has created.

Pacing 5/5: Full of action, betrayal, loyalty, friendship, brotherhood, and love and sex (a bit descriptive, and visually vivid).

Writing 5/5: A few typos, but not in any way did it interfere with the story.

Overall 5 stars

I highly recommend this book to anyone into Odin or Norse mythology.

Purchased on Amazon.