Poetic Book Tour of DOLL GOD by Luanne Castle

Blog tour of Doll God by Luanne Castle, poetry published January 10, 2015 by Aldrich Press. Tour by Poetic Book Tours hosted by Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit.

The poems show the artist's feelings and observations. Many themes are related to sewing, seamstresses, dolls loved and played with, then disparate, ruined, desecrated. Beauty torn apart.

Like me this doll is studious
with thick legs,
has been a victim of potients
and infatuated with love,
though tenderness has nestled close to danger.
I look closely to confirm she's been martyred. (p. 20)

In another poem, an artist pauses in his work, faced with the real thing of beauty - in "Caught," page 15. The first few verses of the poem below:

Perched on the rail 

of the garage door 

the hummingbird stares 

at the ceiling, 

waits for it to part.

          The painter wants to catch her.  

He lays down his brush.

          Neither does their work 

and the sounds 

of the schoolchildren

and the traffic 

grind down 

to nothing. 

I loved the artist confronted with nature that she enjoys more than her own work.

Do read this small book of poetry and see how you may be moved by both similar and different images in the variety of poems.

Tour Stops:
Feb. 9: Patricia’s Wisdom (review)
Feb. 10: Everything Distils Into Reading (review)
Feb. 13: Bell, Book & Candle (review)
Feb. 14: Book Dilettante (review)
Feb. 19: Peeking Between the Pages (Author Guest Post)
Feb. 20: Peeking Between the Pages (review)
Feb. 22: Regular Rumination (review)
Feb. 23:  A Garden Carried in the Pocket (review)
Feb. 24: Bookgirl’s Nightstand (review)
March 1: Tea Leaves (review)
March 4: Diary of an Eccentric (review)
March 6: Savvy Verse & Wit (review)

About the Poet:

Luanne Castle has been a Fellow at the Center for Ideas and Society at the University of California, Riverside. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside; Western Michigan University; and Stanford University. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in Barnstorm Journal, Grist, The Antigonish Review, Ducts, TAB, River Teeth, Lunch Ticket, Wisconsin Review, The MacGuffin, and other journals. She contributed to Twice-Told Children’s Tales: The Influence of Childhood Reading on Writers for Adults, edited by Betty Greenway. Luanne divides her time between California and Arizona, where she shares land with a herd of javelina.

Thanks to Poetic Book Tours and the author for a review copy of the book.

Book Tour: Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Title: Following Atticus: Forty-eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Author: Tom Ryan
William Morrow Paperbacks; Aug. 7. 2012
Genre: memoir, travel

I was once asked if Atticus was the perfect dog. "He's perfect for me," I said. (from the Acknowledgements).

About: A little dog named Atticus M. Finch helps Tom Ryan on an extended journey of self discovery and healing by accompanying him on long and isolated nature treks up and down the mountains of New Hampshire.

Comments: The writing is excellent and pulls the reader into the heart of the writer and into the center of his journeys with Atticus, who often leads the way on the treks. In the middle of the book, I thought that Tom and Atticus would stop climbing, retire, and take it easy, having already climbed so many 4,000-foot mountains in all kinds of weather. But they continued on, during one winter making the rounds of mountains twice and raising money for an animal medical center. I read on and realized that Atticus pined for the mountains as much as Tom did and that their outings are a big part of what keeps them both contented.

Recommendations: This book is a good one for all dog lovers and trekkers. Those who normally avoid dog books because they fear an unhappy ending when the dog dies need have no fear. Atticus and Tom are both still active and mountain trekking.

The author: In 2007 former newspaper publisher and editor Tom Ryan moved to New Hampshire with miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch. Tom and Atticus have climbed more than 450 four-thousand-foot peaks over the last five years. After raising thousands of dollars for Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, the pair was inducted into the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Hall of Fame. Tom currently writes The Adventures of Tom & Atticus column in the Northcountry News and Mountainside Guide, and the blog The Adventures of Tom & Atticus. Tom and Atticus live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

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For more reviews of Following Atticus, see the Book Tour Schedule.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for a review copy of this book.