I have an aversion to rhyming poems. But since this is a Nikki book, I have to give her some props.
18. Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day by Nikki Giovanni*****
I think this is my second favorite Nikki collection. The introduction was very insightful and helpful too. A nice feel to the poems here, softer but still Nikki.
19. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares****
I know my life wasn't this exciting when I was fifteen. But the emotions felt real even when the characters sometimes didn't (and most of the time the characters felt real too). About four best friends who are separated for the summer, it was perfect for a girl who is missing her 3 best friends. Can't wait to read the sequel!
20. Those Who Ride the Night Winds by Nikki Giovanni ***
Each Nikki collection is slightly different, she uses a lot of different styles and each book has a different feel to it. This collection was in between for me. Nothing aggravated me, but nothing really stood out either.
21. Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement by Nikki Giovanni****
Highly militant, highly radical, highly interesting. This book is Nikki in her most raw, angry form, and it's amazing to think about it in context for the time it was written and then compare it to the things she is writing today. There is a complete transformation between her styles of old and new, while still allowing for the same basic ideas and emotions. Nikki is a muse.
22. My House by Nikki Giovanni *****
My favorite Nikki collection. A great compilation, agressive in some areas, tender in others, always contemplative. A wonderful mix.
23. Blessing the House by Jim Daniels ****
While I like M-80 more as an overall collection, this one also had some good poems. It's a different style of Daniels' than I'm used to, more abstract, but Daniels is great nonetheless, one of my favorites.
24. Radical Equations by Bob Moses with Charlie Cobb*****
At first I thought this book was dense and had a very poor flow. It's bogged down in details for the first few chapters, and I almost thought about not finishing it, just putting it up on half.com and hoping to get some of my wasted $14.00 back. But then about halfway through when the book got to the meat of the story about the Algebra Project, I thought it was amazing. A truly remarkable book/project. Who could expect anything less from Bob Moses, who is simply extraordinary? Everyone should know about the Algebra Project.
25. Fugitive Days by Bill Ayers *****
Slow moving in the beginning, but a truly incredible, fast-paced true life journey. This book, written as a first person memoir, helps clarify how a person can go from a peaceful, non-violent student at UM to one of the FBI's most wanted and a radical, violent activist. I saw Bill Ayers at Shaman Drum in A2 and he seems like an awesome person. The book is amazing and full of information from a perspective that you can't get from media reports. He also offers a lovely tribute to his friend Diana Oughton.
26. Once My Name Was Sara by I. Betty Grebenschikoff **
Wonderful for the family archives, short vignettes in chronological order about the author's early childhood and life in China during WWII (her family were refugees from Nazi Germany). Filled with grammatical errors and elementary writing, as a book it didn't work for me. The chapters were incredibly short, but the book felt tedious.
27. Kiss the Dust by Elizabeth Laird **
A children's book for upper-elementary left over from my childhood that I had never read. As with #26, it didn't work for me. The information was important (about the Iran/Iraq war of the 80's and the plight of the Kurds), but the story just didn't work for me. I've read better as far as kids' books.
28. Getting Mother's Body by Suzan Lori Parks*****
Interesting, refreshing writing style, an uplifting look at depressing themes. Parks, a playwrite, writes her novel like a script, so that the reader can delight in first person narratives from every character in order to get the full scope of the plot.
29. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis**
I read this great book called Twelve last year, and heard from all over the internet that this book was the predecessor to that one and much better. I found it to be much less stimulating, and was disappointed. Still a powerful book, just not what I was expecting. I didn't like the author's writing style.