pushpullbooks - 3 Good Books

Allyson Whipple is the director of the Austin Feminist Poetry Festival and vice president of Austin Poetry Society. Her poetry chapbook, We're Smaller Than We Think We Are, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2013. Allyson teaches at Austin Community College, and in her spare time is pursuing a black belt in Kung Fu. You can read more about her at http://allysonmwhipple.com.

Allyson Whipple suggests books on roadtrips and realizations:

The Chaneysville Incident
by David Bradley

I wrote about this novel for my honors thesis in college, and its power has never left me. History professor John Washington returns to his hometown to tend to the dying Jack Crawley, a friend of his late father’s. Over the course of the novel, John becomes obsessed with working out the mystery of his own father’s death. The physical journey in this book is short, but the mental travels, and the revelation that results, are challenging and long. This is a book not just about revelation, but about family, memory, and the ways in which history runs much deeper than what is found in textbooks and newspaper reports.

Caramelo
by Sandra Cisneros

This lyrical novel bounces us between Mexico and Chicago, the story of a family and what they endure on both sides of the border. Lala Reyes and her family make the long drive from Chicago to Mexico City to visit the Awful Grandmother. But the Awful Grandmother has had her own share of struggles and painful epiphanies. This is about family stories and family secrets, as well as history, ethnicity, and the painful difficulties one faces when crossing into different lands.

Codex of Journeys: Bendito Camino
by Liliana Valenzuela

You don’t need to be fluent in Spanish to appreciate Valenzuela’s bilingual chapbook. This collection is small in size, but it is nonetheless vast in scope, with poems that take us all the way from Texas to Ghana (with other stops in between). This collection explores borders and issues of race and gender, interrogates injustice, and also celebrates culture and self.

Good Books: Hannah Stephenson on Artists

Hannah Stephenson is a poet, editor, and instructor living in Columbus, Ohio (where she also runs Paging Columbus, a monthly literary event). Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Hobart, Poetry Daily, and The Nervous Breakdown; her poetry collection, In the Kettle, the Shriek was published by Gold Wake Press. Visit Hannah at The Storialist (www.thestorialist.com), where each day she posts a poem inspired by a work of visual art.

Hannah Stephenson recommends books on, about, and by artists:

A Field Guide to Getting Lost
by Rebecca Solnit

One of my all-time favorite books (first recommended to me by an artist, of course!). Gorgeous, gorgeous essays on loss, losing, and lost-ness manifesting itself in art.

What It Is
by Lynda Barry

Creative and cartoonist guru Lynda Barry looks at how we tell stories, draw, and create images. So playful and poignant.

Building Stories
by Chris Ware

Fourteen separate graphic novels (all within a different shape/visual style — a Golden Book, a newspaper) in a box. The stories center around characters living in an apartment building. Though they are linked, you can read them in any order. Brilliant and so delightful.