This is a cute picture book about Elizabeth Brown, a book-obsessed lady who is literally never shown without her face in a book who eventually buys so many books that she ends up turning her house into a library (relatable). I liked the cute poem-story and slightly zany illustrations, but nothing much happens in the book. Elizabeth Brown was a real person, and she is my new hero. I bought this from Book Outlet before I learned about their antisemitism. 3.5 out of 5 stars, tentatively keeping but eventually giving away.
Trigger warnings: claustrophobia due to the book-filled house
It was Winnie the Pooh Day/A.A. Milne's birthday on January 18, so I read this book later that week to celebrate. This is of course a reread, and I'm always charmed by the stories and pleasantly surprised by just how dang funny this book is (Eeyore in particular). The ending suggests this is the last of the WtP books, as Christopher Robin tells Pooh he's being sent off to school. With what we know about English boarding schools, it's even sadder (and grim) to read that as an adult. 4 stars, permanent collection.
Trigger warnings: characters get lost, characters get stuck in tall trees, a character's tree house falls down (no one is hurt), growing up (the last chapter)
You'll remember I read the companion books in this series earlier last year in order to get rid of them (Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, Politically Correct Holiday Stories). Like the others, this "politically correct" fairytale retellings were somewhat amusing, but you can't really tell if they're parodying the original patriarchal tales or political correctness itself. Maybe that's the point. A fun read, but not worth keeping. 3 stars, giving away.
Trigger warnings: inclusivity and political correctness mocked; depictions of misogyny, capitalism, sexism, and politics; children are abandoned in woods by father (Hansel & Gretel), baby girl is cursed to have a non-feminist view of men as saviors and completers, body horror via genetic manipulation, cities portrayed as dirty and crime-filled
I've owned this nice Everyman's Library edition of love poetry for some years now. My goal was to read the poems I'd listed as my favorites on a post-it note inside the front cover after the first time I'd read the book, but then I just ended up reading them all. You get many of the classics, such as Neruda and Shakespeare, plus some lesser known poems as well. The poems, unsurprisingly, tend very old and Western, with a few Japanese and Chinese poems (translated into English) thrown in as well. There might be other countries represented; I'm not familiar with every poet included in this book. Recommended if you like poetry, as I do. Since I'm very short on space, I found and bookmarked all the poems I like online, then ended up finding the whole book on the Internet Archive. Go figure. I think I bought this one at my library's book sale or a thrift store. 4 stars, giving away.
Trigger warnings: poetic sensuality/sex descriptions, amatonormativity, heteronormativity, heartbreak, probably death mentions
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