Book Review: Poems & Prayers by Matthew McConaughey

Book cover for *Poems & Prayers* by Matthew McConaughey.

Review

When you finish a book in one sitting, you know it’s good. Filled with the witticism, humor, and wisdom of someone who’s lived a lot of life and tried to live it well, Poems & Prayers chronicles decades of McConaughey’s life distilled into the most important and most reflective moments.

I laughed out loud, bookmarked certain passages to remember and review later, and nodded my head in assent throughout the book. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. There are riffs and musings in there that aren’t included in the printed text. Myself, I listened to the audiobook and followed along in my printed copy that arrived today. Autographed, because who’s going to miss out on having a signed book by Matthew McConaughey?

Poems & Prayers is available to buy wherever books are sold, but of course I encourage you to buy it at your local Books-a-Million, and if you don’t have one you can buy it online at booksamillion.com.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.

Book Review

The West Wind (The Four Winds #2) by Alexandria Warwick

First of all, let me say that Alexandria Warwick is on my list of auto-buy authors from now on. I loved the first book in this series, The North Wind, and the follow-up did not disappoint. I read both the first and second books in the series with my friend John, and we’re planning on reading the third (comes out this month) and fourth (TBA) books when they come out.

Brielle is a Daughter of Thornbrook, a novitiate in service to the Father and the Text. Her dream and one true goal is to become an acolyte and advance in her faith under the tutelage of Mother Mabel, the Abbess of Thornbrook. She has dedicated her life in service to the Father and the running of Thornbrook. Like the nuns of Catholicism in our own world, one of the vows the novitiates of Thornbrook are beholden to is the vow of chastity. She must never touch a man. She and the other novitiates wear gloves at all times, especially when selling their wares in Carterhaugh.

Like the nuns of Catholicism in our own world, one of the vows the novitiates of Thornbrook are beholden to is the vow of chastity. She must never touch a man.

Zephyrus is the West Wind, an immortal god, one of the Anemoi, the four brothers who control the Four Winds. He is the Bringer of Spring. He is also bound to Under, the realm whose existence is shrouded in mystery and mysticism to the novitiates of Thornbrook. Every seven years, a tithe takes place in Under, in which the novitiates of Thornbrook pay a price for the continued existence of their abbey lands. But Zephyrus is also forced to pay a price, one that is far more dear than anyone could possibly imagine.

When Brielle finds a wounded man in need of help outside the walls of the abbey, she has to make a choice. Let him suffer, and possibly die, or risk bringing him back to her room to nurse him back to health. The decision she makes will set off a chain of events that will change not only her, but her entire world, forever.

The story of Brielle and Zephyrus, however, is completely original. Contained herein is a perfect mix of heroism, adventure, love, and sacrifice.

The West Wind takes inspiration from both the Greek myth of Hero and Leander as well as the Scottish ballad Tam Lin. The story of Brielle and Zephyrus, however, is completely original. Contained herein is a perfect mix of heroism, adventure, love, and sacrifice. In order to become the people they were destined to be, Brielle and Zephyrus will have to leave behind everything they thought they knew, about themselves and the world around them.

Needless to say, this was a five-star read for me. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Goldsboro Books, an independent bookshop in London, United Kingdom that specializes in signed and specialized books, is releasing a special numbered and signed edition with sprayed and stenciled edges. It’s limited to only 500 copies, and I was lucky enough to snag one. They’re still in stock as of this writing, so if you want one I will include the link here:

The South Wind

For the standard edition paperback of The South Wind (currently a preorder) and the first two books in the series, visit my personal favorite bookstore (linked below) or get them wherever books are sold.

The North Wind (paperback)

The West Wind (paperback)

The South Wind (paperback)

Book Review

The Games Gods Play (The Crucible #1) by Abigail Owen

First of all, I will say that this book was entertaining. I don’t usually gravitate towards mythology-centered books that bring pantheons of any culture into the modern world, but if anything is well-written enough I’ll give it a go. My book club chose this book and we just finished it a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been holding off of writing an official review for it because I have very mixed feelings.

First of all, can we dispense with the FMCs who are written as baddies but who have the internal monologue of a damsel in distress? The dissonance is just too much. That’s one reason I’m having a hard time getting through Fourth Wing right now, because the FMC (Violet Sorrengail) is supposed to be this fierce dragon rider but her internal thought process is all about how she doesn’t think she can do it and wah wah wah. It gets really old. I think the next romantasy I pick up where there’s a dissonance between the FMC’s inner thoughts and her entire personality (as observed by other characters), I’m just going to put it down. I already went through high school and I’m not interested in it again.

I don’t think I would have finished this book if I hadn’t have been reading it with my book club. The first hundred pages were a slog. Like pulling teeth. Thank God Owen takes her chapter lengths from the James Patterson playbook of writing and they were short.

Once the action started in earnest, I started to enjoy it more. The Labors were fun to read and I think the book would have been better served if they’d been elaborated on in more detail. Think Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games, although the writing is not on par with either of those series by a long shot. The banter between Lyra and Hades was interesting, and the spice that spices was spicy. Catch my drift?

The most interesting characters in the entire book are Lyra’s thief friend Boone and the goddess Aphrodite. Boone is the friend you’d always want with you in a tight spot. He’s selfless, resourceful, and brave enough to risk pissing off the Lord of the Underworld in order to help out a friend.

Owen’s Aphrodite is gorgeous, horny, and a total gossip. She’s the friend who begs you to confide in her all so she can go tell your secrets to the other mean girls at her lunch table. You hate her for it when you find out, but you still crave her approval desperately. She’s Regina George by way of Olympus, and honestly, if Owen wanted to do a spinoff all about her, I’d say the heck with Lyra and Hades.

I know it sounds like I’m bagging a lot on this book, and I don’t want it to seem like that. At the end of the day, the book was a lot of fun. I ended up buying two different copies of it, the Deluxe Limited Edition with sprayed and stenciled edges and the audiobook too. I’ve been doing a lot of tandem reading, listening to the audiobook while following along in a physical copy or ebook. With my ADHD, it really helps me to stay focused. If I had to rate it, I’d still give the book four stars. It entertained me, and that’s enough. That alone was worth my money.

Caveat emptor, though…the book ends on a total cliffhanger which made me mad and now I have to wait until September to read the next book in the series. Oh well…

The Games Gods Play (The Crucible #1) is available wherever you get your books, but as a proud Books-a-Million! employee, I am linking to the BAM! website.

Book Review: The Littlest Turtle by Lysa Mullady (Author) and Erica Salcedo (Illustrator)

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley and Magination Press, the children’s book imprint of the American Psychological Association, in exchange for an honest review. I have not received compensation for the inclusion of any links for purchase found in this review or on any other page of The Voracious Bibliophile which mentions The Littlest Turtle, its author(s), or its publisher.***

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review

What a delightful little book! The Littlest Turtle tells the story of a community of turtles of various statures and sizes who live and work together. There’s a division of labor in which the smaller turtles climb on the backs of the larger turtles to pick the ripest and most delicious fruits from the trees. What the smaller turtles are largely unaware of is that while they are getting to eat the best and most delicious fruits from the trees, the larger turtles have to make do with the fruit that falls on the ground and is often rotten or otherwise spoiled.

One day, Littlest Turtle hears the larger turtles grumbling among themselves about how unfair the whole situation is. Without the value of their labor (i.e. literally allowing the smaller turtles to climb on their backs to reach the fruit), the smaller turtles would not be able to eat. However, they always have to eat food that’s not as good. This gets Littlest Turtle to thinking.

Copyright © 2023 by Lysa Mullady. Illustrations copyright © 2023 by Erica Salcedo.

Littlest Turtle consults one of his fellow smaller turtles and asks why the larger turtles don’t get to share in eating the best fruits that are picked. Littlest Turtle immediately gets shut down by his peer who claims that that’s just the way things have always been and there’s no sensible reason to change anything. Littlest Turtle mulls over the unfairness of the whole system and starts to concoct a plan to change things for the better. Feeling emboldened by a newfound sense of justice, Littlest Turtle sleeps in preparation for putting his plan in motion.

Littlest Turtle mulls over the unfairness of the whole system and starts to concoct a plan to change things for the better.

The next day, Littlest Turtle approaches Biggest Turtle and tells them that the whole system is unfair, that they want to help rectify the inequality and ensure all turtles have access to the best and freshest fruits. Biggest Turtle says that the larger turtles have been talking amongst themselves about a plan to enact change. Littlest Turtle volunteers to help, and so off they go.

Marching to the brambles, the larger turtles (along with their comrade-in-arms Littlest Turtle) stop in their tracks while the smaller turtles make their way to the fruit. They stop, and see that the larger turtles have not joined them to allow them to climb on top of their backs to pick the fruit. Biggest Turtle announces their stance, stating that they want to eat the freshest berries too. Littlest Turtle chimes in to say that they won’t be moving until a change is made. Who doesn’t love solidarity among turtles and peaceful sit-ins?

Who doesn’t love solidarity among turtles and peaceful sit-ins?

The turtles start having conversations together and exploring how the old system was wholly unfair. The smaller turtles have to face the fact that they’ve unfairly benefitted from a system that’s exploited the labor of the larger turtles while not providing for their needs. They all work together to create a new system that ensures every turtle among them has access to the freshest fruits.

I think The Littlest Turtle is the perfect book for introducing children to ideas of fairness, equality, division of labor, and access. Children develop empathy by having conversations about what’s fair and by ensuring everyone in a given community’s needs are provided for. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

The Littlest Turtle was released on August 15th, 2023 by Magination Press, the children’s book imprint of the American Psychological Association. It is available to purchase or order at your local bookstore.

One Year of The Voracious Bibliophile

I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for a whole year. I can’t believe my ADHD brain allowed me to *consistently* blog for a whole year. Shoutout to Adderall! Normally, I’d be of the opinion that self-adulation is a major faux pas (just kidding, I’m a borderline-narcissist) but I’m going to take a minute here to pat myself on the back and give myself a high-five. I feel like I’ve carved out a cool little niche for myself here on the blogosphere, a little space where I can talk about books, yes, but also anything else that tickles my fancy. I designed my own logo and create the majority of my own graphics. I’ve managed to steadily increase organic traffic to my site and keep growing my follower base all while working a full-time day job. I’m kind of a superhero. We’re all kind of superheroes.

Looking back and reflecting on the past year, I am incredibly grateful for everyone who’s given my blog a chance and for all of the other bloggers I have grown to admire for being the shining examples that they are. I hope all of you will continue on this journey with me and that I’ll pick up even more follower-friends over the next year. Thank you so very much.

Bonus

If you want to go back to where it all started, here’s a link to my first-ever blog post from one year ago today: Audiobooks Are Book-Books. Enjoy!

All Aboard the ARC: unlock your storybook heart by Amanda Lovelace

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I have not received compensation for the inclusion of any links for purchase found in this review or on any other page of The Voracious Bibliophile which mentions unlock your storybook heart, its author, or its publisher.***

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review

Reading a book by Amanda Lovelace is kind of like settling in for a nice heartfelt chat with a friend that you’ve not gotten to talk to in a long time.

Reading a book by Amanda Lovelace is kind of like settling in for a nice heartfelt chat with a friend that you’ve not gotten to talk to in a long time. There’s familiarity, kinship, and the kind of confessions you can only make when you know someone truly and deeply. When I first found out I had been approved to read a galley of unlock your storybook heart, which is the third and final book in Lovelace’s you are your own fairy tale series, I immediately texted a friend who also loves her work and intentionally filled them with jealousy. Evil? Perhaps, but it was worth it.

You’re already the prize you’ve won.

I enjoyed every page of this collection. Its truths bear repeating and Lovelace expands upon her themes with each successive page. Throughout this collection, and indeed throughout all of Lovelace’s work, we see that the most profound truths and the best practices for living one’s life to the fullest are not complex at all. All you really need to do is let go, trust your inner voice, and chart your own path. It’s nice to have a partner to share that journey with, but as Lovelace often shares, you only need yourself. You’re already the prize you’ve won. You don’t need a charming prince in a fortified castle or a knight in shining armor. You can slay the dragon yourself and ride off into the sunset as your own hero and that’s perfectly okay.

You can slay the dragon yourself and ride off into the sunset as your own hero and that’s perfectly okay.

unlock your storybook heart will be released by Andrews McMeel Publishing on March 15th, 2022 and is now available to preorder wherever books are sold.

All Aboard the ARC: Broken Halves of a Milky Sun: Poems by Aaiún Nin

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley and Astra House in exchange for an honest review. I have not received compensation for the inclusion of any links for purchase found in this review or on any other page of The Voracious Bibliophile which mentions Broken Halves of a Milky Sun: Poems, its creator, or its publisher.***

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review

Theirs is a fiercely political poetics which centers the Black Queer experience and names the many violences committed by Western governments in the name of Christianity, “progress”, and the status quo.

In their daring and evocative debut, Aaiún Nin leaves absolutely nothing left unsaid. Theirs is a fiercely political poetics which centers the Black Queer experience and names the many violences committed by Western governments in the name of Christianity, “progress”, and the status quo. Where other writers would dance on the line between truthful testimony and placating respectability, most likely due to a reflexive need for self-preservation, Nin forges a path of their own through a tangled web of desire, trauma, history, and their personal immigrant experience—in their case, one that has been rife with racism, homophobia, and other intersecting axes of oppression.

What Nin refuses to do in Broken Halves of a Milky Sun is cater to an audience that would never listen to them anyway, at least not in any substantive or constructive way. In fact, they anticipate the not all men and not all white people responses and throw it back in the faces of their would-be detractors. This is not a space for the oppressors to have a say. Sit down. They are not accepting questions or comments at this time.

So moved was I by the poems in this collection that when I made it to the end, breathless and aching, only one response would suffice: Amen.

Broken Halves of a Milky Sun: Poems was published by Astra House on February 1st, 2022 and is available to purchase wherever books are sold.

All Aboard the ARC: I’ll Take Care of You by Maria Loretta Giraldo (Author), Nicoletta Bertelle (Illustrator), and Johanna McCalmont (Translator)

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley and Blue Dot Kids Press in exchange for an honest review. I have not received compensation for the inclusion of any links for purchase found in this review or on any other page of The Voracious Bibliophile which mentions I’ll Take Care of You, its creators, or its publisher.***

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review

This beautiful picture book introduces children to the interconnectedness of nature with a single refrain repeated throughout: “I’ll take care of you.”

This beautiful picture book introduces children to the interconnectedness of nature with a single refrain repeated throughout: “I’ll take care of you.” So says the Earth, the Water, and the Sky to the scared little seed that grows into a strong apple tree. So says the selfsame tree to the blackcap bird who takes shelter in its branches. So says the blackcap bird to her tender hatchling, whom she loves, nourishes, and teaches to fly. So says the blackcap bird to the seed that falls among stones once the apple tree sheds its blossoms and its fruit. The little bird watches over the seed which she entrusts to the Earth’s tender care. She sings to it and hopes for it until one day, a shoot breaks forth and the cycle begins once again.

I’ll Take Care of You is ideal for daycare, preschool, and local Story Time groups, who can reinforce the concepts introduced in the book by performing acts of care for one another and others in their community.

Thus the gift of care is shared and magnified among all of nature and her children in I’ll Take Care of You, and I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this simple yet powerful tale. Nicoletta Bertelle’s warm and vibrant illustrations reinforce the themes of community and ecological harmony found in Maria Loretta Giraldo’s text, gorgeously translated from the Italian by Johanna McCalmont. I’ll Take Care of You is ideal for daycare, preschool, and local Story Time groups, who can reinforce the concepts introduced in the book by performing acts of care for one another and others in their community.

I’ll Take Care of You is due to be published by Blue Dot Kids Press on April 12th, 2022 and is now available to preorder wherever books are sold.

All Aboard the ARC: On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy D. Snyder (Author) and Nora Krug (Illustrator)

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press in exchange for an honest review. I have not received compensation for the inclusion of any links found in this review or on any other page of The Voracious Bibliophile which mentions On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, its creators, or its publisher.***

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review

When On Tyranny first came out in 2017…I called it the “most powerful and timely book we’ve got right now,” and I stand by that assessment.

When On Tyranny first came out in 2017, I remember reading it in my bathtub, absolutely riveted and completely terrified. I remained that way, completely terrified that is, through the remainder of Trump’s presidency up until the present day. In the short review I posted on Goodreads at the time, I called it the “most powerful and timely book we’ve got right now,” and I stand by that assessment. In it, Snyder presented us with a model of political rectitude, elucidating the present by drawing parallels from the past in the hope that we might steer ourselves toward a more just and equitable future.

Democracy does not offer roadside assistance.

To return to my terror, I suppose Snyder himself would say that an alert citizen is a good citizen, but only if that citizen is proactive rather than reactive. Like most forms of social good, democracy does not self-correct when it encounters flaws in the mechanism. The people in charge of its maintenance, which is all of us, have to pull over on the side of the road, lift up the hood, and put in a little elbow grease to fix it. To further labor the metaphor: Democracy does not offer roadside assistance.

To lessen our chances of breaking down in the first place, however, it’s important to practice good citizenship at all times, not just in times of crisis. We should advocate for the causes important to us all the time, not just during an election year. We should lobby our legislators to pass laws that strengthen our democracy, that protect human rights. We should make calls, donate when and where we can, and show up to participate with our bodies every chance we get.

I have done my best to be a proactive citizen and I’d like to think that my efforts helped us to avoid another four years of Trump, at least for the moment. I’m holding my breath thinking that putrid orange tyrant will try to run again in the next presidential election. If he does, and heaven forbid, wins, God have mercy on us all.

On my not-so-good days, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think we were doomed beyond saving, but I don’t like to back down from a fight. It’s not good for your digestion.

The good news is I’m not that much of a cynic yet. On my not-so-good days, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think we were doomed beyond saving, but I don’t like to back down from a fight. It’s not good for your digestion. Actually, I’m not sure what pugnacity does for your digestion, but I’ve always found it winsome to follow the revealing of a questionable character trait with something ameliorative to make myself more palatable.

Timothy Snyder is not only a historian of the highest echelon, but a prescient prognosticator of our possible political futures.

I was so excited when I found out that a graphic edition of Snyder’s book was being released and having now read it, I can assuredly say it did not disappoint. Timothy Snyder is not only a historian of the highest echelon, but a prescient prognosticator of our possible political futures. I intentionally used futures, plural, because our course is not set. We the people, the body politic, are the cartographers drawing the map toward our future. What the future looks like is based on the collective decisions we make today to either defend or neglect democracy. Don’t let’s make it easy for the tyrants, orange or otherwise.

We the people, the body politic, are the cartographers drawing the map toward our future. What the future looks like is based on the collective decisions we make today to either defend or neglect democracy.

Nora Krug’s illustrations are sometimes macabre and at other times breathtakingly beautiful, and sometimes they are both in equal measure. All of her illustrations are elegant in their simplicity and deftly executed on the page. Her inclusion of historical photographs, many of which were found in photo albums and other ephemera at flea markets and antique shops, add depth and pictorial veracity to Snyder’s narrative of the history of tyranny in the twentieth century.

Nora Krug’s illustrations are sometimes macabre and at other times breathtakingly beautiful, and sometimes they are both in equal measure.

Although a review is not and should not necessarily be a summary of a work, I’d like to include here the twenty lessons Snyder gives in his book, if for no other reason than to pique the interest of would-be readers.

Snyder’s Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Do not obey in advance.
Defend institutions.
Beware the one-party state.
Take responsibility for the face of the world.
Remember professional ethics.
Be wary of paramilitaries.
Be reflective if you must be armed.
Stand out.
Be kind to our language.
Believe in truth.
Investigate.
Make eye contact and small talk.
Practice corporeal politics.
Establish a private life.
Contribute to good causes.
Learn from peers in other countries.
Listen for dangerous words.
Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
Be a patriot.
Be as courageous as you can.

On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century was released by Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press on October 5th, 2021 and is available to purchase wherever books are sold.

All Aboard the ARC: Blossom and Bud by Frank J. Sileo (Author) and Brittany E. Lakin (Illustrator)

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley and Magination Press, the children’s book imprint of the American Psychological Association, in exchange for an honest review. I have not received compensation for the inclusion of any links found in this review or on any other page of The Voracious Bibliophile which mentions Blossom and Bud, its creators, or its publisher.***

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review

Mr. Baxter’s flower shop is full of gorgeous flowers of every imaginable shape, length, and hue, giving Blossom and Bud plenty of opportunities for negative self-comparison.

Blossom and Bud begins in Mr. Baxter’s flower shop. Blossom is a long-stemmed sunflower ashamed of her height and Bud is just that—a bud—who hasn’t blossomed yet and feels self-conscious about it. Mr. Baxter’s flower shop is full of gorgeous flowers of every imaginable shape, length, and hue, giving Blossom and Bud plenty of opportunities for negative self-comparison. The other flowers, which remind one of the Technicolor hecklers in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, tease the two about their insecurities relentlessly.

What Blossom and Bud learn is that everyone, no matter their size or composition, has a place and a purpose unique to them and them alone.

At the end of the long day, Mr. Baxter goes home to rest up for what will be a big project starting the next morning. What our heroes don’t realize is that they will be central to this project. Mr. Baxter arrives in a joyful mood of rapturous anticipation, for a wedding is afoot! He pulls out a list of different flowers he needs, and there are two in particular that are especially important. He needs a long-stemmed flower to be the center of the bride’s bouquet and a bud (our Bud) to be the groom’s boutonnière. What Blossom and Bud learn is that everyone, no matter their size or composition, has a place and a purpose unique to them and them alone.

Dr. Sileo’s lovely tale, beautifully illustrated by Brittany E. Lakin, is sure to delight and inspire children of all ages to accept themselves for who and what they are, and to celebrate their differences with pride.

Blossom and Bud was released by Magination Press, the children’s book imprint of the American Psychological Association, on April 13th, 2021 and is available to purchase wherever books are sold.

Dr. Frank J. Sileo, PhD, is the Founder and Executive Director of The Center for Psychological Enhancement, LLC in Ridgewood, New Jersey. In addition to Blossom and Bud, Dr. Sileo is the author of twelve other books, eleven of which are children’s picture books exploring topics related to children’s growth and development. You can read more about him and his work on his website.

Brittany E. Lakin is an award-winning children’s illustrator based in the United Kingdom. She is represented by Plum Pudding Illustration and has done work for Firefly Press, Magination Press, and Worthy Kids, among others. You can read more about her and her work on her website.