Book Review: Courage: Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls

When i first heard of this poetry anthology i got so very excited. Firstly, it was published by one of my favorite publishing houses, Write Bloody Publishing. Write Bloody Publishing is an independent American publishing house that publishes contemporary poetry. Secondly, the book was edited by Mindy Nettifee among Karen Finneyfrock and Rachel McKibbens. Nettifee is one of my favorite modern poets, Finneyfrock and McKibbens on the other hand are new names to me, but i thoroughly enjoyed their work in the anthology as well. And thirdly, besides Nettifee's works, the book also includes some of my other favorite poets such as Amber Tamblyn (from who's instagram i first heard about the book) and Jeanann Verlee. Lastly, America Ferrera, who i adore, said about the anthology: ”These poems are full of pain, humor, and guts. I wish this was required reading when I was in school.” If these points don't make you wanna just go and get your hands on this collection right now, then i don't know what will. Also i don't understand you. At all.

Courage: Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls
edited by Karen Finneyfrock, Mindy Nettifee, & Rachel McKibbens

Paperback
Number of pages: 180
Release Date: 28th of March 2014
Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing
Genre: Poetry
Topics: feminism, friendship, growing up, motherhood, death etc.
On Goodreads

What is it about?
Courage: Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls is pretty much the book what the title promises it to be. It is a collection of poems written by women. More so, it is a collection of the works of (in my opinion) some of the best female poets of today. The works in Courage deal with all aspects of girlhood and what it means to grow up as a woman in today's society. It tackels such issues as race, first love, feminism, being a sister and a friend, motherhood and facing misogyny & sexism.

What did I think?
It's probably given, but i absolutely loved this book! I read it out loud to myself in three nights. It is a book you could read in one sitting but i like to read poems in small proportions so that i can really feel the words and what is being said, or left unsaid. In the foreword the editors promise that the reader will leave the book with at least three new favorite poems. I think that is a massive understatement. I marked 22 poems as my favorites, and that was only cause i tried not to mark every single one (although i wanted to) since what's the point in that. This was also the first poetry book that has ever made me cry, several times. Now, i cry easily for novels or movies etc, but never has a poem made me actually cry. Several poems also punched me in the gut real hard. You know that feeling? Words have power and Courage is one of the most powerful collection of words i have ever read. But it's not all just pain and tears, there are some pretty funny stuff in it too.

Who should read it?
Everyone. If you are a young feminist woman, like i am, it will fill you with nostalgia, and hope. And a little bit of pain. If you are a teenage girl it will help you get through. And for all the men, it is a window to the minds of women, well, at least some of them. It will help you understand. Like the back of the book says, this book is for anyone who is, or has been, or knows a teenage girl. I'm pretty sure that's all of us.

Few of my favorite lines:

”But safety isn't always safe.You can find one on every gun.” 

I Sing the Body Electric , Especially When My Power's Out by Andrea Gibson 

”When your ghost leaves bleeding fog from beneath his sheet,follow him to the traffic light with your eyes. Keep your feetunderneath you whatever you do. Lock the windows.
Make sure the neighbors see it all.” 

Poem for Repelling Ghosts by Karen Finneyfrock 

”December, you are young,you have not yet learnedhow love can ruin you.You are so naïve,you can't believe,that the very thingyou sleep withcould swallow you.” 

December by Erica Miriam Fabri 

”When scars are new,They shine. Be all the glitterYou need.” 

In Case You Ever Need It, It Is Here by Daphne Gottlieb

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Check out the webpage for Courage anthology here.
Write Bloody Publishing.
Mindy Nettifee
Karen Finneyfrock
Rachel McRibben
Amber Tamblyn
Jeanann Verlee

i've been told i was born to endure this kind of weather. (day 10)

sorry you didn't get a christmas craft related post yesterday, nor do you today (later this week, i promise). i was too hooked buy a book i was reading, one that i mentioned on the Christmas Reads post and here's my review on that.

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan 
★★★★

Lily is about to spend her Christmas practically alone since her parents have flown to Fiji for their 25th anniversary and her grandfather is in Florida visiting his girlfriend. the only person to keep Lily company is his older brother Langston who is ignoring Lily to spend time with his boyfriend. though Langston has arranged something special for Lily, he has persuaded Lily to leave a red notebook to her favorite bookstore, a book of dares, so that when the right kind of person finds it, he will answer the dare and maybe Lily will finally get a boyfriend, and be out of Langston's hair.

Dash is also spending his Christmas alone, but by choice, he has tricked his divorced parents to be able to do so by telling his mother he is spending the Christmas with his father and vice versa. so with his mother out of town he has the whole place to himself. one day he stumbles upon a red notebook stuck between the books of his favorite author in his favorite bookstore, curious Dash can't resist the dare and so begins the treasure hunt and game of dares that takes Dash and Lily around New York city to places they never thought they'd go. like Macy's during the worst shopping season or a night club full of hipsters and a man dressed in drag as a bouncer. but is Dash the right guy to pick up the book of dares, could the treasure hunt and words in the notebook turn into something more.

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is a book written by two authors, David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, David wrote Dash's parts and Rachel Lily's. this style of writing works in this book very well, both characters have their own explicit voice. both of the characters are very relatable, Lily is this very happy-go-lucky kind of girl and complete Christmas enthusiast where as Dash is cynical and doesn't care for the Holiday season. he is a word nerd who likes to use big words in his conversation. some may thing that makes him pretentious but i didn't see him that way.

one of the most enjoyable things in the book for me was the side characters, from Lily's brother and his boyfriend to Dash's friends. i also really liked the fact that there are quite a lot of characters of different sexual orientations that are introduced very casually and naturally which doesn't happen too often in books, something similar that i noticed in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, a movie based on a book written by these two authors, a book that's going on my to read list.

i really recommend this modern fairytale for Christmas read to everyone who doesn't shy from romance. this book is witty and smart and laugh out loud funny! a perfectly light holiday read.

“I was attempting to write the story of my life. It wasn't so much about plot. It was much more about character.” 

i wait for you to reappear.

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney ★★★★

Alex is a Junior in Themis Academy, a quiet, competetive boarding school in which teachers trust their students never to do wrong. And when they do, they turn a blind eye, because a Themis student never does wrong. Only Themis is not a magical world where nothing bad ever happens, just like in the outside world, immoral things happen and crimes are commited. That's why Themis Academy has The Mockingbirds, a justice system founded by the students, and executed by the students. When Alex is date raped by an other student, The Mockingbirds are who se turns to, and they help her to take a stand and fight for what's right, fight for herself.

The author of The Mockingbirds, Daisy Whitney was dated raped on her freshman year in Brown University, so she clearly knows what she's writing about. The Mockingbirds is a moving story of a girl trying to find her voice after it's been taken from her. At first the book moved quite slowly and i didn't feel cpativated by it, but as the story progressed i found my self more and more hooked. What i find really refreshing, is how Alex isn't made into a typical victim, even tho she is at loss with herself and how to cope, she begins to rebuild herself and her life. And that is something Daisy Whitney has been able to write very beautifully. It's not a story about revenge, it's a story that shows the true meaning of taking control and seeking justice.

“I don't need to be any place else, because the music takes me to the only place I want to be right now. To the place where I am and have always been wholly me, the only church I've ever belonged to, the only place I've ever prayed.” 

i don't love you, but i always will.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins 

★★★★★

Kristina has an alter-ego, her name is Bree. Bree is the opposite of Kristina, she's sexy and andventurous, she's completely fearless. Where as Kristina is a good girl, gets good grades and never gets in any trouble. When Kristina goes to visit her father one summer, she meets a boy, but instead of being her good old Kristina, Bree takes her place. The boy introduces Kristina to the monster, crystal meth, crank. And nothing in Kristina's life is the same.

Crank is the first book in the series that follows Kristina's life while she struggles with drug addiction. The interesting thing about Crank is that it's entirely written in free verse, something i didn't know when i first picked it up. But it's what makes the book so brilliant, it's beautifully written and the story just flies. It's a brutally honest narration of the world of drug addiction. It's compelling and haunting, it will keep you hooked til the very last page, leaving you wanting for more. Very much like the Crank

“Life was good
before I 
met
the monster.
After,
life
was great
At least
for a little while”

you and i are the same.

The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

★★★★

Seventeen year old Bianca is witty and cynical. She doesn't always feel like the prettiest of her friends, but she's smart. Too smart to fall for the charms of the schools hottie Wesley, who happens to be a complete douche and only after one thing.

Then one night Wesley appoints Bianca to be the Duff of her group, The Designated Ugly Fat Friend. This gets Bianca furious and makes her hate Wesley even more. So why does she find herself kissing him and even worse, in his bed?!

Things at home are not so great for Bianca, her mother hasn't been home for months, claiming to be on a business trip. Her father, with a drinking problem, regardless he's been sober for Bianca's whole life, seems to be stuggling to stay that way. So what if Bianca uses Wesley for distraction, after all, Wesley is using her to get to her frieds, right? But Wesley turns out to be a good listener, and maybe everything's not so great in his seemingly perfect life either.

Kody Keplinger writes with a wit and honesty, her characters are complex and real. I find the main character, Bianca, very relatable. She is smart and ambitious, but also a teenager, and a person, who makes mistakes and misjudgements. The Duff is a quick and easy read, but it has a real message. It's true in a way it describes teenage relationships, sexuality, insecurities and struggles.

"I was the Duff. And that was a good thing. Because anyone who didn't feel like the Duff must not have friends. Every girl feels unattractive sometimes. Why had it taken me so long to figure that out? Why had I been stressing over that dumb word for so long when it was so simple? I should be proud to be the Duff. Proud to have great friends who, in their minds, were my Duffs."

i get a little bit bigger, but then i'll admit i'm just the same as i was.

Amelia Anne is Dead And Gone by Kat Rosenfield ★★★★★

Becca has always been a girl who makes plans, and her plan is to escape the godforsaken town of Bridgeton. But when on the night of her graduation, her boyfriend James breaks her heart and a body of a mysterious girl is found on the side of the road, everything changes. Becca lies awake at night, wondering who is the girl, how did she end up here, who was the person she saw last, the person who took her life. Beccas obsession with the girl paralyzes her and for the first time in her life she doesn't know how to move forward. Then things start to unravel towards the horrifying truth of the death of Amelia Anne.

Kat Rosenfields writing is lushious, heavy and lyrical. The death of Amelia Anne creates a Twin Peaks-esque atmospehre that sets over the town like a thick fog. The book follows Beccas last summer in Bridgeton side by side with the last day of Amelias life. We get to know the small town through Beccas eyes, the secret short cuts, the things everybody just know, like the fact that there is a red Ford tractor hidden in the water at the south end of Silver Lake. Kat Rosenfields way of describing a small town life is spot on.



Amelia Anne is Dead And Gone is a dark and mysterious story told so beautifully it sends shivers down your spine and tears into your eyes just for the sake of words combined so perfectly together. I have never read an epilogue so beautifully written than the one in this book. It's not the most original and unexpected story plot wise, but it's so compellingly written you just want to keep reading it forever, and when it's done, read it again.

"An anonymous death in a small town, that's a different thing. It makes people uneasy. They stop gossiping, talk only with trusted friends, or - realizing that nobody can truly be trusted - they don't talk at all. Instead of settling in the streets or running throught the municipal sewer system, murder moves inside. It becomes internalized. It seeps around the corners of locked front doors. It creeps into people's bedrooms. It runs in their veins.  People sit on their porches, they smoke, they look with  narrowed eyes down the darkened streets and into their neighbors' windows. Inside, murder tiptoes up the back stairs and hides behind a bedroom door. The people, alone on their porches or gathered quietly around the kitchen table, consider the unknowns. They form theories. They wait for information. And when they go inside, upstairs, when the lights go out and they lie, wakeful, in their beds, they wonder if everything has changed."

There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling   ★★★★ 

These days everybody seems to be writing a memoir, doesn't matter if you're famous or not, have done nothing interesting with your life or don't really have anything to say. we are supposed to be interested in everyones every thought and we feel like we are entitled to have the same attention. i blame facebook. so i often don't bother with books by familiar faces from tv or movie screens, most of them don't know how to write anyway.

but Mindy Kaling's different, she's funny, witty and has her way with words, after all that's what she has won awards and gotten Emmy nominations for. (if you didn't know, she writes, produces and acts in a show called The Office.)  Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) is a set of essays of Mindys thoughts on her childhood to what makes a great best friend to one night stands and how to make an Irish Exit (don't know what that is? neither did i but i'm definitely gonna use it!). Reading Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? feels like a conversation with a friend, you laugh, agree, feel like shouting That's exactly how i feel! and at some points, might cry a little too. if you're an easy crier like me, or Mindy.

Mindy Kaling is definitely not an other Hollywood-person, trying to convince you what a struggle her life was before all the glamour. Actually, Hollywood life seems a little less glamorous from Mindys point of view, but a heck of a lot more interesting.

“Teenage girls, please don’t worry about being super popular in high school, or being the best actress in high school, or the best athlete. Not only do people not care about any of that the second you graduate, but when you get older, if you reference your successes in high school too much, it actually makes you look kind of pitiful, like some babbling old Tennessee Williams character with nothing else going on in her current life. What I’ve noticed is that almost no one who was a big star in high school is also big star later in life. For us overlooked kids, it’s so wonderfully fair.” 

Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
★★★★★ 

First, let me tell you a two parted background story of how it was possible for John Green to write this novel. And how, in my opinnion, it was possible for him to do it so well.
About ten years ago, John worked as a student chaplain at a children's hospital where he had to face young people with cancer and other serious diseases. This made him to want to write a story that would honestly embody what these kids are really alike. We are often told that kids with cancer are these fountains of wisdom, wise beyond their years when in fact, sick kids are a lot like other people.
The second part of the story that made John Green able to write his book came in 2008 when he met Esther Earl, a girl who was a reader of John's books and who died of cancer. John has said that it was knowing her that made him possile to write this story. (Tho you must realize that Hazel is not Eshter. TFiOS is pure fiction.)

The Fault in Our Stars tells a story of a sixteen year old girl, Hazel Grace Lancaste who suffers from stage IV thyroid cancer, that has made her attached to an oxygen tank for the past three years. Her condition is terminal and all of her treatments are just for prolonging her life. At a support group Hazel meets Augustus Waters, a beautiful boy who is about to change her life, as well as she is about to change his.


John Green has written an honest, moving and incredibly funny book that shows kids with cancer exactly how John wanted it to, a very much like all the other people. The Fault in Our Stars is witty and devastating and no other book has ever made me laugh nor cry as much. I find it hard to write this review, since i wanna respect Johns wishes to keep everyone spoiler free, which i do find important for the book to have the Magic i expericend when first reading it. It is an important book that i recommend everyone to read, it might just make you see life for what it is. It's like when in Doctor Who the Doctor says:

Every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things, and make them unimportant.

Hazel and Augustus really added to each others piles of good things, and i guess, that's all we can hope for, to have people to make our lives worthwhile.