February 2025 Book Reviews #bookreview #books #amreading #readingcommunity @KarensStories @JanSikes3 @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I can't believe I read five books in January! Here are my reviews for this month. I only post reviews that I would recommend others read.

Long Stories Short

by Karen Black

Genre: Horror Anthologies, Fantasy Anthologies

Pages: 117

Book Blurb:

Long Stories Short, a collection of ten short stories, includes several previously published readers' favorites. A house fire causes tragedy in "Aftermath." "Magic or Miracles" will take you on a journey that may help you decide if there's a difference. How long is "Forever?" Mark and Erin discover the power of the Ouija Board in "You Summoned Me." Does Bigfoot exist? Eli believes so and "One Step at a Time" tells his story. Is there life after death? "A Candle in the Darkness" looks at both sides of the question. "Mountain Justice," a story of domestic violence, friendship and a horse's devotion might make you wonder how far you would go to save a friend's life. A hasty decision has devastating results in "Unintended Consequences." Dreams and reality collide in "The Hunted." Man's best friend proves he is just that in "Indisputable Evidence." Written in a variety of genres, the reader will find drama, suspense and paranormal. Expect the unexpected.

My Review:

This was a fantastic collection of short stories! I have read several short stories by this author before and have always enjoyed them. Two of them were also part of this collection, and I loved rereading them because it's been a while since I read them. This collection is a mix of fantasy and what I would call "soft horror." The stories aren't gory but have a bit of a creepy effect.

Although they are short stories, each one is written extremely well and tells a complete tale. I loved the twist at the end of "Aftermath." "You Summoned Me" will make you careful of messing with magic. I loved the Bigfoot stories as well. My favorite story was probably "Unintended Consequences." Honestly, every single story was enjoyable. They all had very different characters and different circumstances. If you enjoy reading short stories, I would definitely recommend this collection.

Ghostly Interference (The White Rune Series, Book 1)

by Jan Sikes

Genre: Ghost Paranormal Romance

Pages: 303

Book Blurb:

Jag Peters has one goal in his quiet comfortable life—to keep his karma slate wiped clean. A near-miss crash with a candy apple red Harley threatens to upend his safe world. He tracks down the rider to apologize properly. Slipping into a seedy biker bar, he discovers the rider isn't a "he", it's a "she", a dark-haired beauty.

Rena Jett is a troubled soul, who lives in a rough world. She wants no part of Jag's apology, but even while she pushes him away, she is attracted to him. When he claims to see a ghost—her brother—can she trust him? And could her brother's final gift, a magical rune stone with the symbol for "happily ever after" have the power to heal her wounds and allow opposites to find common ground—perhaps even love?

My Review:

I really enjoyed this story. From the first scene, it pulled me in. Jag and Rena seem like they are from different worlds, but as we get to know them, we realize they both need to love and feel loved in return. I loved that her brother's ghost kept an eye on her and played matchmaker and hero throughout the story. 

The author created wonderful, well-rounded characters. The emotions throughout the story were authentic and palpable, especially in the emotional scenes. I loved the dynamic between Jag and his mom as well as the fact that Rena wasn't the only one who had struggles in her life. 

If you enjoy romance with a bit of suspense thrown in, you will enjoy this story! I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

What have you read lately? I'd love to hear from you.

Mended Scars and Lessons Not Learned - #ReverseEtheree #poem #W3 #poetry #poetrycommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! This week at W3: Wea've Written Weekly, Violet encouraged us to write a poem focused on the theme of elements of the human condition. She provided us with three different quotes and invited us to incorporate one of the quotes into our poem. Here are the three quotes:

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

    - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

 

"The marks humans leave are too often scars."

    - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

"Sometimes I think being scared if half the fun."

    - House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

I chose to write a reverse Etheree, which is a poem of ten lines with each line losing a syllable (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1). I also chose to have end rhymes to make it even more challenging. (I'm a glutton for punishment...lol!). 

(courtesy of @CDD20 on Pixabay)

Mended Scars

the marks humans leave are too often scars

etched upon the heart without regard

broken promise here, lies told there

friendships lost without a care

self-importance tops all

until karma calls

actions rebound

turn around

change trends

friends

As I was creating this poem, another poem came to mind. This one is a free verse.

(courtesy of Microsoft Copilot)

Lessons Not Learned

the marks humans leave

are too often scars

embedded deep within history

smooth, gray scars

where trees were uprooted

to make way for progress

depressed, white scars

where whole species were eliminated

for entertainment or apathy

red, raw, serrated scars

used to tear apart countries

irradicate people who were hated

simply so others could feel empowered

each scar carries its own story

some scars begin to fade with time

ignored for lack on wanting

to face past atrocities

content with believing

it's all in the past

until

the past becomes the present

and the empowered want more

and the peons forget the warnings

the signs of what's to come

the power they gave away

so the powerful could once again

wield the knife

and create more scars

Would you like to write a poem for this prompt? Join us here.

Pisces - #dVerse #MoonwashedWeeklyPrompt #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I'm prompt-combining again. Over at Moonwashed Weekly, Eugi provided us with the image below and the following prompt words to use. I've bolded and italicized the words I chose to use.

purple, a secondary color

combining red and blue

the prompt is writer's choice

and up to you

For dVerse's Poets Pub, the prompt was Tuesday Poetics: The Four Elements. Kim invited us to explore the four elements or earth, air, fire, and water and write a poem about one of them.

Pisces

a water sign,

fish swimming in opposite directions

yin 

         and

                  yang

            ebb

       and

flow

sensitive to the current's changes

learning how to navigate

uncharted waters

combining intuition and empathy

to weather emotional storms

nurturing and healing

tears flow freely

into an ocean of connection

secondary to others

sometimes to a fault

allows some to enter

spits others out

constant yet

ever-changing

merging fantasy with reality

navigating unseen realms

from a trickle to gushing

calm yet turbulent

delicate but strong

an embodiment of dualism

Would you like to write a poem about either of these prompts? Click the links below:

Moonwashed Weekly

Tuesday Poetics: The Four Elements

#TankaTuesday is Back! #taiga #haiku #72JapaneseMicroSeasons #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's 72 Japanese Micro-Seasons, Colleen Chesebro introduces us to the season of Kasumi hajimete tanabiku, or mist starts to linger. I've chosen to write a haiku to celebrate the mico-season.

(courtesy of @mystraysoul on Pixabay)

changes in weather

wintry chill becomes subdued

mist starts to linger

Colleen has also brought back #TankaTuesday, which first introduced me to this wonderful poetry community, and I'm excited that it is back. This week's challenge is to write a taiga, which is Colleen and Robbie's version of a tanka with an image. The poem must stand alone without the image, and the image cannot complete the tanka. They are independent of the other but complement each other. For this week, Colleen asks that the image be in black and white.

(image courtesy of @The-Ge on Pixabay)

Would you like to join either of these prompts? Click the links below.

72 Japanese Micro-Seasons

#TankaTuesday

Not Your Canvas - #dVerse #quadrille #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! Yesterday was dVerse's It's Quadrille Monday! A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words, not including the title. For this week's prompt, Lillian encouraged us to write a poem about the color indigo. 

My poem is not autobiographical. I have been fortunate in never having a partner physically abuse me, but I know there are many people who are not as fortunate. 

(courtesy of @dianacibotari1991 on Pixabay)

Not Your Canvas

your favorite color was

indigo

so I decorated myself in indigo

eye shadow, jewelry, clothes

it wasn't enough

you wanted me as your canvas

my skin and soul seeped indigo

until I realized I hated indigo

and you

I'll never be your canvas again

Would you like to write a quadrille about indigo? Join us here.

Spoiled Pomeranian - #haiku #FFFC #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's Fandango Flash Fiction, Melissa provides us with the adorable picture below. It reminded me of how many people now travel everywhere with their pets, even to the grocery store! So, I decided to write a haiku.

(image courtesy of Madison Inouye on Pexels)

spring flower collage

a spoiled Pomeranian

never left behind

Would you like to write a poem or flash fiction for this image? Click here and join us!

Hibernating Trees #tanka #WDYS #poem #poetry #Ekphrastic #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's What Do You See? prompt, Sadje provides us with the photo below and encourages to write about it.

I chose to write a tanka poem, which consists of five lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabication format. The third line tends to be the pivot and applies to both the first two lines as well as the last two lines separately.

(image credit; Felipe Labate @Unsplash)

not among the dead

just hibernating, waiting

searching for new hope

our roots grow deep underground

we stand strong in tests of time

Would you like to write about this image? Click here to join us.

Collaborative Sestina #sestina #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #collaborativepoem @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! Recently, I was invited by Melissa Lemay to be a part of a collaborative poetry project in which five poets each wrote a poem using six random words that Melissa gave us. She then took our five separate poems and meshed them together using the format of a sestina. 

The other poets who volunteered to create a sestina with me were Michele Lee Sefton, Valerie (Murisopsis), Colleen Chesebro, and Heather Carr-Rowe. The random words we were given were pen, plan, dash, likely, boat, and name. One of the words was repeated at the end. Each of us were give the words in a different order, and we didn't see each other's lines before Melissa put them all together. 

Here were the lines I created:

you captured my heart with the stroke of your pen

your attention made me feel more than just a name

my lonely heart took off in a dash

allowing you to romance me on your luxury boat

I was a boost to your ego, most likely

guess that was always the plan

do you remember my name?

Melissa took my lines and combined them with the other poets and created this fabulous sestina! Click HERE to read it! :-)

Without You - #XplorationChallenge #dVerse #isolation #EnglishMadrigal #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I'm combining prompts again! For Reena's Xploration Challenge #369, Reena encourages us to use the idea of isolation in our writing. For dVerse's Poetry Form prompt, Grace introduces us to the English Madrigal form.  Here are the parameters:

The idea of isolation took me a bit darker than I usually go. It took me a while to get the form right and then a little more to carry the heaviness of this poem. I am grateful this poem is not about my personal situation. Big hugs to anyone who connects with this sorrow and isolation.

(courtesy of @ArtSpark on Pixabay)

Without You

darkness cloaks me in sorrow's second skin

the loss of your love colors my world gray

the future's bleak without you ev'ry day

nothing seems to ease the heartache within

if only the Fates would have let you stay

darkness cloaks me in sorrow's second skin

the loss of your love colors my world gray

empty bed, soundless house, no joy within

no happiness outside, in here I stay

'till we meet again on Heaven's walkway

darkness cloaks me in sorrow's second skin

the loss of your love colors my world gray

the future's bleak without you ev'ry day

Would you like to write a poem for these prompts? Click the links below:

Reena's Xploration Challenge #369

dVerse's Poetry Form prompt

Haiku - #72MicroSeasonsofJapan #seasons #haiku #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! This week, Colleen Chesebro's 72 Micro-Seasons of Japan focuses on the season of Tsuchi no shō uruoi okoru - Rain moistens the soil. I decided to write a haiku for this season.

(courtesy of @Tuan86 on Pixabay)

light rain drizzles down

dry soil soaks up nourishment

tiny sprouts emerge

Would you like to write a poem for this Japanese season? Join us here.

Embrace Love - #W3 #Ghazal #love #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! Over at W3: Wea've Written Weekly, Art Camenzind is challenging us to write a poetry form that is new to me. It's called a Ghazal. Art has chosen the theme of love (romantic, spiritual, agape, platonic, etc.). The form is a bit complicated. Here are the parameters:

I struggled with this form. There were many examples given, but each one used the form a bit differently. I wanted to stay as close to the rules as possible. Hopefully, I did. Each line of my couplet has ten syllables. I went with love as my word to repeat, and my inline rhyme has the /oo/ sound.

(image courtesy of @stux on Pixabay)

Embrace Love

Life is enhanced when one chooses to love,

Platonic, romantic, old or new love.

Heartache and loneliness hinder the soul,

Hearts can be healed with kindness and through love.

Let down your walls, allow love to take hold,

Fill your life with joy and embrace true love.

Sometimes a relationship will wither,

Resist bitterness, choose to renew love.

Love truly makes the world a better place,

Accept Yvette's timely point of view....love!

Would you like to try this form? Click here.

Snakeskin Sheds - #dVerse #MoonwashedPrompt #tanka #abhanga #poetics #poem #poetrycommunity #poetry #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I've chosen to combine two prompts today. The first is from Moonwashed Weekly Prompt where Eugi encourages us to use one or more of the words below to inspire us. I've bolded and italicized the words I chose to use.

observant and swift

simplicity summoned

unpretending

The other comes from dVerse: Poets Pub. Melissa Lemay provides us with several pictures and asked us to write an ekphrastic poem incorporating color and any feelings the art evokes. We are to give the artwork a story. 

I chose the picture below and decided to write a tanka, which is a five-lined poem that has a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern. The third line is considered the pivot, though it can happen at any time in the poem.

(image credit; Emil Nolde painting)

tumultuous seas

cragged rocks promise swift death

sailors plead mercy

observant fiery red sky

prayers heard, ship veers away

Melissa then encouraged us to read an article about the artist and his alignment with Nazis and his attempt to later lie about his support for that regime. It speaks of his personality and how his ill-tempered and loud ego was abhorred and how he chose to blame others for his failures. She then asked us to write an 'after' poem about the artwork. I chose to write an abhanga for my second poem. Abhanga poems have four lines with a 6-6-6-4 stanza, where the two middle lines rhyme.

She also asked a series of questions, so here are my answers. 1) This information made me want to not promote this artwork. Instead, I share it to acknowledge that we find ourselves in perilous times once again with people choosing to lie and hurt others to be in power. 2) The image still is turbulent to me, but now it has a deeper meaning. My focus still ends with the light. 3) I believe what we create is a part of us, but I also believe art can stand alone, separate from its maker. 

Snakeskin Sheds

political turmoil

lies ride the waves with wind

fiery light will exscind

truth will bring calm

Would you like to write a poem for one of these prompt? Click the links below:

Moonwashed Weekly Prompt

dVerse: Poets Pub

Left Behind - #dVerse #prosery #XplorationChallenge #FFFC #prosery #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! Today, I'll be combining three prompts. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was a bit busy this weekend, so I'm catching up with some of my favorite sites for prompts. 

Over at dVerse's Prosery: Making a Parka, Ms. JadeLi invites us to write a prosery, which is a prose story, that uses the phrase "make of it a parka for your soul" by Alice Walker, from Before you knew you owned it. We also had a word limit of 144. My original version had 347 words, so I whittled it down to fit the word limit.

Reena's Xploration Challenge #368 challenges us to use metonymy and pleonasm in our piece. I had never heard of either word before this challenge. Metonymy is "a literary device in which a word or object stands for a closely related word or object." For example, one could use the word suit for a business executive. Pleonasm is when you use more words that needed to convey a meaning.

Melissa's Flash Fiction Challenge provides us with the interesting and cute photo below and encourages us to use it as inspiration.

(image courtesy of Matt McCarthy)

Left Behind

Sofia shut the door to her apartment, drained from the funeral. She felt an empty void. Despite the dishes left by family, she couldn’t eat.

Meow

Their newest edition poked his head out of the tunnel of her toddler's train set. After finding out the chemo wasn't working, her husband had come home with him. Seeing the kitten, she said, "He's beautiful, my love. What made you get him?"

"I won't be here much longer. I hope he’ll fill your lives with love. Make of it a parka for your soul.  Every time you see him, know my love's still here."

Sofia kissed Mittens on the head as she felt a loving warmth embrace her. "Come on, Mittens. It's time to wake Jake Junior from his nap. We've got some living to do."

never-ending change

learn to adapt to seasons

accept small blessings

 

Would you like to write to one of these prompts? Click the links below:

dVerse's Prosery: Making a Parka

Reena's Xploration Challenge #368

Melissa's Flash Fiction Challenge

Haiku - #72JapaneseMicroSeasons #haiku #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! This week, Colleen Chesebro introduces us the Japanese micro-season of Uo kōri o izuru, which represents the seasons of "fish emerge from the ice." 

I decided to write a haiku, which is three lines with a 5-7-5 syllabic pattern. It also must include a kigo word (representing the season).

(image created by Microsoft Copilot)

spring's warming sun rays

winter's grip begins to thaw

fish emerge from ice

Would you like to write a poem for this season? Join us here.

Resilience - #senryu #WDYS #SpinTheBottleprompt #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! It has been a busy weekend for me. My son and I went up to his university to sign a lease for the upcoming school year. It was a 10+ hour road trip in one day, so I felt drained emotionally and physically, but I also felt relief to have that task completed. Yesterday, I worked my part-time online job, went to the gym, and spent some time with a friend. Today is a holiday for me, so I'm finally finding my way back to poetry.

For this week's What Do You See? prompt, Sadje provides us with the picture below and encourages us to write an original story, poem, or caption. 

Robbie's Spin the Bottle prompt encourages us to write a senryu, which is a poem with 3 or more lines with a short-long-short syllabication pattern. Senryu poems focus on emotions such as "anything that touches on the pain we experience through sorrow, prejudice, oppression, anger, and frustration." Humor and sarcasm as also popular elements in senryu poems.

(Image credit; Leandra Rieger @Unsplash)

new babe brought to life

uncertain world creates fear

practice resilience

Would you like to write to either of these prompts? Click the links below:

What Do You See? prompt

Robbie's Spin the Bottle prompt 

Love Potion - #ReverseEtheree #MoonwashedWeeklyPrompt #dVerse #Poetics #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writer #writingcommunity @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and dVerse's Poetics invites us to write a piece related to the holiday in their "From Your Valentine" prompt. Sanaarizvi invites us to choose one of three prompts: 1) Love Potions and Concoctions, 2) Love Letters Through Time, or 3) Love in a Digital Age. Over at Moonwashed Weekly Prompt, Eugi encourages us to write a poem using the word luster, so I decided to combine the two prompts.

I decided to write a poem for option 1. I chose an Reverse Etheree form, which is a poem of ten lines with each line losing a syllable (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1).

(courtesy of @madenme on Pixabay)

Love Potion

clear your mind of all past admirations

envision perfect imperfections

pour a base of solid friendship

stir in sexual desire

mix 'till full of luster

sprinkle with laughter

add honesty

and patience

create

love

Would you like to write a poem about one of these prompts? Click the links below:

dVerse's Poetics: From Your Valentine

Moonwashed Weekly Prompt