Why you should fall in love with poetry

So I’m finally reading Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey – a collection of poems that has been taking the world by storm.

To be honest, I’m quite surprised that I’m only reading the book now, considering that I adored analysing and writing essays about assigned poems during my high school years.

Most of my friends have never shared my sentiment at all.

Maybe because poetry is often associated with assigned reading and having to examine structure, present examples of iambic pentameters, memorise limericks and identify various literary devices used in poems. We needed to read it in order to pass English.

 For me, the joy of rediscovering my affinity for verse is now made wonderful because of the fact that I can fall in love with it on my own terms.

Milk and Honey is an anthology that’s gripped me to the core of my soul. If you haven’t read it yet, the book is divided into four sections – the hurting, the loving, the breaking and the healing – and delves into topics of love, heartbreak, abuse, sexism and the heart of being a woman.

It’s a poetry book worth getting your hands on – especially since her new book, The Sun and Her Flowers is making its way out into the world soon.  The new book will be focusing on honouring one’s heritage and reflect on healing, growth and finding home within yourself.

What are some of your favourite poems or poetry collections? Send us some of your recommendations – I’d love to hear from you.

Top 10 books of the month

So, our newsletter’s looking a bit different this month! Hurrah! While our list below features our top 5 favourite books, you can still check out more reviews on our books section for the month.

Our personal top 10 for the month are as follows:

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
Reflecting Rogue by Pumla Dineo Gqola
The New Girl: A Trans Girl Tells it Like it Is by Rhyannon Styles
The Dying Game by Asa Avdic
Shattered Minds by Laura Lam
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
Nebula Awards Showcase 2016 edited by Mercedes Lackey
I Heart Robot by Suzanne van Rooyen
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli
The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey

Excerpt of the month:

The book launch was fully booked out, with more than 600 people showing up for the first event which we feel clearly shows that Khwezi’s making her voice heard from beyond the grave.

Read an excerpt from the book here.

Author of the month:

We chat to South African author Suzanne van Rooyen about her YA novel, I Heart Robot  which explores artificial intelligence, human-robot relations, and whether or not androids are capable of experiencing human emotion. Does the dynamic terrify or excite you?

Books we can’t wait to feature later this month:

In addition to Rupi Kaur’s The Sun and the Flowers, two other books we’ll be reviewing - Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell, bestselling author of the How to Train Your Dragon series and debut author Gabriel Talent’s My Absolute Darling.

Wizards of Once  is a fantasy novel that explores the age-old but relevant theme of putting aside prejudiced feelings and working together to combat  a force that threatens to undo the world they live in. It’s the first in a new series by the author and features beautiful illustrations that will make a treat for any child or adult reading this book.

My Absolute Darling is one of those books that people have been describing as gut-wrenching, harrowing, heartbreaking and unpalatable on the stomach. It’s a book that won’t be for everyone because it delves into the subject of incest and abuse in graphic detail.

Stephen King said the following:

Not an easy book to read, but a necessary and important one. Look out for our review in our next newsletter!