Welcome to Ghost Town by Gretchen Gomez

Hello Dewey Readers!

I found a new poet who I absolutely adore via Instagram.  Gretchen Gomez's book Welcome to Ghost Town is just wonderful.  She tackles tough subjects with brilliant images and breath taking vocabulary that I devoured.  

One thing that I think is particularly inspiring is that Gomez's book is self published, which seems to be the new trend amongst millennial poets.  It's also an idea that I have been toying with myself, so I love reading books by poets that have actually done it well.  

What drew me to this book right away was the cover.  Not only is it gorgeous but it was also designed by poet Cyrus Parker.  But once you crack open the spine to this collection it becomes clear that the cover is simply there to compliment the pages hold so much talent. 

With other self published poets getting deals with publishers, I find it hard to believe that Gomez hasn't yet signed with a publishing house.  She clearly has a gift and if anyone should be signed, it should be her. I give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans. 

Stay tuned for our next review!  
~Jessica 

To Make Monsters Out of Girls by Amanda Lovelace

Hello Dewey Readers!

We are interrupting our normally scheduled novel book review for a review of poetry.  Poetry is HOT right now and Amanda Lovelace's latest collection, To Make Monsters Out of Girls, is on FIRE.  

This book is the first in her Things That Haunt series, which focuses on heartbreak and laying the past to rest.  It is moving.  It's a quick read.  AND it's currently being sold in hardcover, which just goes to show you how big this revival in the popularity of the poetic verse is becoming, and is also something that I find especially inspiring because Lovelace is an example of many popular poets who got their start through self publishing.  

There is a lot of critique in the poetic world regarding "Instagram Poets" and the validation of their work.  Right now, it's trendy to write poems in all lowercase, with very short lines, and little to no punctuation.  Many of you who read our blog may know that I too write poetry, and had gone to school for it.  While this isn't how I was taught to write, or how I choose to express my writing, I have come to appreciate it.  Publishing poetry isn't like publishing a novel.  Many agents won't even consider representing poets, mainly because for years it hasn't sold that well at all.  In order to get published, poets usually submit to literary magazines.  A poem here, a poem there, followed my rejection letters, acceptances, and maybe eventually a published chapbook.  Social media is changing this.  It's allowing people to read poetry and to share their work, it's allowing for a rebirth in the freedom and expression of verse, and it's allowing people to appreciate words and the emotions behind them.  Basically, its allowing for poetic exposure, showing people that there are many different forms that poetry can encapsulate, forms quite different from the Shakespeare and Wordsworth that are taught (and dissected) in schools.

Lovelace's collection is an excellent example of how poetry is growing and changing.  Would Lovelace's poems be able to stand alone amongst others in a literary magazine, maybe but probably not.  But is her poetry strong as a collective whole? Definitely.  

I would rate this 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

P.S.  I bought this collection after I gathered my quite scary to-read pile into the center of my room, to celebrate new organization.  You can thank my sister for this photo.  

P.S.S.  Follow my poetry instagram @JessicaBielenPoetry and stay tuned for my book coming soon.  

~Jessica