Tag: broken flowers

December and January Book Haul

chicnerdreads33 Comments

Many months ago, I had stated that I was only going to do seasonal book hauls because I don’t buy much books. Well my friends, that was a mothereffin lie. I have so many physical books/ebooks to show you. I can’t believe I acquired 22 books in only two months. I need to stop!!!

*the title of each book will lead you to the Goodreads page

Physical Fiction Books:

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Physical Poetry Books:

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  • Uncaged Wallflower by Jennae Cecelia: 
    Uncaged Wallflower is for those who feel trapped in the thoughts their minds produce, unable to express them with the rest of the world out of fear of critique or disagreement. For the people who need an extra dose of positivity in their day. This is not a poetry book for you to read and relate to in a sorrow filled way. It is for you to read and say yes, I can be better, and I will.
  • Bright Minds Empty Souls by Jennae Cecelia: 
    Bright Minds Empty Souls is for the hopeless romantics and those who need a friend to comfort their late night thoughts. It’s a book made with love about falling in and out of love with yourself, and others. Enjoy over 60 poems from Jennae’s second edition of, Bright Minds Empty Souls.
  • The Chaos of Longing by K.Y. Robinson: 
    The Chaos of Longing is a prose and poetry collection draped in raw honesty, ache, and eroticism. The collection explores trauma, love, heartbreak, and the realizations from it all. 
    The book is divided into four sections. “Inception” briefly examines formative years and its effects on how one loves. “Longing” reflects on love and sexuality. “Chaos” explores toxic relationships, unrequited love, and heartache. After chaos, there is order with self-love and healing poems in “epiphany”.
    Some content may be triggering.
  • Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook: 
    In Alicia Cook’s second poetic effort, designed in the style of an old mixtape, she sets her thoughts to a nostalgic tune. There is no Table of Contents. Instead, there is a “Track List,” making it easy to refer to them to your friends with a, “Hey did you read track seven?!” There are no chapters. Instead, the book is divided into two parts, or as one would say in the 90’s, two “sides.” Side A holds poetry that touches on all aspects of the human condition like life, death, love, moving on, evolving, growing up, hometowns, family dynamic, life after trauma, and make-ups and breakups. Side B holds the “remixes” of these poems, in the form of blackout poetry, also known as “found poetry.” Side B gives the material a fresh twist by creating new poetry out of Side A. There is also a very special surprise at the end of each track. Alicia decided to self publish this effort after leaving her publishing house. She views this book as her “independence” and official separation from that venture.
  • Rest in the Mourning by R.H. Sin: 
    The calm before and after the storm. Rest in the Mourning is a steady and profound stream of conscious thoughts and emotion. Documenting unhealthy relationships and why the heart ends up in the hands of those deemed unworthy. It speaks to the heart’s ability to hold on to relationships that no longer deserve our energy as well as what happens when we are ready to let go. Rest in the Mourning is about self-care and self-love.
  • Whiskey Words and a Shovel II by R.H. Sin:
    Real and raw, the voice of R. H. Sin delivers gritty, impassioned truths on matters of loving, living, and leaving in his second book of poetry.  Sin’s first book is a bestseller and continues to delight his one million followers.
    R.H. Sin’s second volume continues the passion and vigor of his previous publication. His stanzas inspire strength through the pure emotional energy and the vulnerability of his poems. Relationships, love, pain, and fortitude are powerfully rendered in his poetry, and his message of perseverance in the face of emotional turmoil cuts to the heart of modern-day life.
  • Broken Flowers by R.M. Drake: 
    “And you will go on / searching for the best of you / and you will never find it, / but that is the point.” This stunning collection of poems asks readers to keep on seeking – the journey is the destination. In this fifth installment from Robert M. Drake, the poet meditates on the subtle beauty of brokenness.
    I have a non spoiler book review here.

E-Books:

thoughts???? let’s chat in the comments! any of these on your TBR or on your read shelf?

Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @ChicNerdReads
Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)

January Wrap-Up 2017

chicnerdreads55 Comments

HI EVERYONE!!! How’s your day treating you so far? How about month? How’s the new year so far? Cause here in the USA we’re going through it and we need a miracle like yesterday. K thanks lol. Anyways, I read 3 books and 1 I’ve DNFed. Let’s jump right into what I’ve been reading and up to =)

What I Read:

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Broken Flowers by R.M. Drake ★★★★
Genre: Poetry
This is my second R.M. Drake. I love his writing and he talks a lot about loss and brokenness within yourself and relationships. I have a non-spoiler review with even some of the poems here.

 

 

 

 

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ★★★★★
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
My favorite of the month!! What a magical world I got to live in for the days that I read this. This circus is everything I would love to visit and more! I have a full non spoiler book review here. I would love to reread this one day in the future and may be even see it as a movie adaptation. This one definitely deserves all the hype!

 

 

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Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James 
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopian
This is the one I DNFed. Not because it’s bad cause trust me, I was really liking it. However, with everything that is going on in the country I live (USA) which is very much like a dystopian novel at the moment, it was affecting my reading experiencing with this one. So I decided to put it down till I am ready to pick it up again.

 

 

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The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins ★★★★ 
Genre: YA, Verse, Realistic Fiction, LGTBQ+
Definitely a heart wrenching novel about two girls that don’t even know each other but eventually cross paths. About knowing yourself, relationships, and family dynamic. I have a non spoiler review for this book here.

 

 

 

Poetry:
Another month where I know I didn’t post much poetry. And I’ll explain all of that in another post I have coming on Friday. Here’s what I did post in January though:
People I Once Knew – Part 15
so what do you think?
People I Once Knew – Part 16
women’s march
looking at human’s on my train ride
and we’re all just entertainers

Memes of the month:
I participated in some meme’s this month that mention other books that I’m excited for!
Waiting on Wednesday – The Seafarer’s Kiss
WWW Wednesday
Top Ten Tuesday – Graphic Novels

Exciting News!

I FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT OF MY POETRY BOOK COMING THIS SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I literally cried once I typed up the last poem. I cannot wait to share with you all more details in the next coming months! I can’t believe this is happening. I didn’t even have this book in mind till I was a few poems in and thought that I should just make a book out of it. I know I’m being vague but just give me some time, I will eventually share the synopsis, links, and all that good stuff coming in a few weeks. I’m still working on some things and haven’t set an official date but it’s looking like June =)

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what have you all beautiful human beings been up to? did you read any of these books? let’s talk in the comments!

Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @ChicNerdReads
Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)

 

Broken Flowers Spoiler Free Book Review

chicnerdreads10 Comments

Title: Broken Flowers
Author: Robert M. Drake
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Synopsis from Amazon (Goodreads doesn’t have one):

“And you will go on / searching for the best of you / and you will never find it, / but that is the point.” This stunning collection of poems asks readers to keep on seeking – the journey is the destination.

In this fifth installment from Robert M. Drake, the poet meditates on the subtle beauty of brokenness.

Another beautiful poetry collection by R.M. Drake. This is my second collection that I have read by him. The first being Black Butterfly, I have a non-spoiler review for that one here. I really despise rating poetry because well as a writer of poetry, I know it’s written from the soul and sometimes even dark places. However I felt underwhelmed with a few of the poems while reading this collection. It felt a little repetitive.

R.M. Drake writes about a lot of loss and brokenness. Loss and brokenness within yourself, others, relationships. About wanting the people who hurt you, back. There were times he is talking to lover in one poem and in another poem he is talking to his brother. He also talks about healing and how it’s okay to feel hurt no matter how much time has passed.

The last few poems mention police brutality, social media, and what is going on in the world today. Which I feel are so important.

The connection is there though, between his poems and humans. You can feel the connection. I still resonated with many of these poems.

His writing in this one is completely different from Black Butterfly. Broken Flowers is full of spaces and even a bit like story telling where as Black Butterfly is not.

I always keep these poetry reviews short because I feel like they’re biased. It all depends on the reader and their life experience to connect with the poetry being read. What Person A might understand from a poem, Person B can see something completely different.

Some of my favorite poems:

Be gentle and kind.

Be fragile and soft.

I know the world tells you otherwise,

but deep down inside

you are not what they want you to be.

You are all the things that change. . .

all leaves that fall,

all rain that meets the ground,

and all the petals that the flower

can no longer hold.

So if you are meant to shatter,

then go ahead, break beautifully,

for the more you fall,

the more you rise and the more you do both,

the easier it will be to

find yourself again.

What She Said to Me One Night:

I have too much universe in me.

I deserve more than the sky

and a few stars.

Dear Mother,

If I die,

do not let me become a hashtag.

I know there is more to people than sharing

terrible news and talking about how cops have

murdered innocent African-Americans.

I know there is a light in every one of us

and I know we all want change but do not know how

to touch change.

let’s chat in the comments, what do you think?

Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @ChicNerdReads
Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)