What new books came into your house lately?
I'm excited about these two new books, out recently. Although the books are completely different, I love both covers and how gorgeous they look together!
A Story Interrupted by Connie Soper (2022, Airlie Press)
This is Soper's first book of poetry. From the description and flipping through it, it looks like these are sort of poems I am drawn to. They are poems about actual places and experiences, not abstract ideas. I like something I can latch onto and relate to when I read a poem. I don't like to feel like the whole thing is going over my head.
From the publisher's description:
Connie Soper’s first book of poetry invites readers to wander the trails of Oregon’s lush and fertile forests, and to celebrate its beaches, coastal cliffs, and headlands. She explores her native terrain with a reverence for the wild and untamed, as well as smaller moments spent in solitude. A Story Interrupted opens its map of place, memory, and inheritances—a map both familiar and uncharted. These poems offer glimpses, as well, of more distant traveled lands, always rooted in a keenly observed sense of place and belonging. These poems recall tender moments and conjure memories that connect us with our past, even if that past is sometimes difficult to acknowledge. Here, open-endedness is not melancholy but joy, each poem a small celebration.
Water Fire Steam by Mitzi Zilka (2022)
This new historical fiction novel is based on real life events and sounds excellent. The story sounds terrific and like it has broader themes that give it appeal beyond the exciting plot.
From the publisher's description:
The year is 1884. Rolla Alan Jones, an ambitious dreamer fresh out of an East Coast engineering school, is commissioned to design and build the first water system in Spokane Falls, Washington, a booming town of twenty-thousand. He is everyone's golden boy for five years until the city burns down on August 4, 1889. The once-celebrated engineer is scapegoated for the catastrophe alleging his system yielded inadequate water pressure. Asked to resign, betrayed by his friends, shunned by the community, and abandoned by his pregnant wife and three-year-old son, Rolla must find the strength to reinvent himself or return to New York as an abject failure. Based on a true story, Water Fire Steam is a story of forgiveness and redemption for anyone who has ever had to claw their way back from an unwarranted accusation.
Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf, and Velvet of VVB32 Reads graciously host Mailbox Monday. Velvet wants to hand off hosting duties so they are looking for a new helper. If you are interested, see the website for details.
