James Sale’s DoorWay Reviewed by Theresa Werba

The Rhymes and Reasons of James Sale: 

A Review of DoorWay, Vol. 3 of the English Cantos

 

DoorWay, Vol. 3 of the English Cantos

Author: James Sale

Independently Published

ASIN: B0F27M6BK3

Released March 2025

$11.61 (Paperback) $2.99 (Kindle)

194 pages

Available on Amazon

Reviewed  by Theresa Werba

 

I have had the honor and pleasure of knowing James Sale as a poetic colleague and ofttimes mentor for many years. I asked him once why he chooses to use imperfect rhymes in his poetry, because I had been under the impression that as formal poets we are never, ever to do it, and that is isn’t following the rules of formal poetry to do it. His response was “There simply are not enough rhyming options in the English language, unlike Italian, which is full of options.” At first I was uncomfortable with the seeming license he was taking in this what I perceived to be a sacrosanct element of formal poetry. How does he get away with that? Is that really allowed? When I first started reading his trilogy The English Cantos, this was really getting to me. It caused me to look constantly at the rhymes, to the detriment of my ability to read the actual poetry. 

 

But I have come to realize what James Sale is doing with rhyming in his poetry is anything but a lack of discipline, or skill, or oversight : it is liberation, innovation, and re-creation. James Sale is not using “lazy rhyme;” he is deliberately, carefully stretching the boundaries of what is acceptable rhyming convention in English formal poetry. He uses his slant rhymes, half rhymes, near rhymes, assonant rhymes, consonant rhymes, light rhymes, and syllabic rhymes with abandon. With joy. With freedom. Lavishly. He is demonstrating that our language is a language that by default doesn’t always perfectly rhyme— but when you get close, it can be as beautiful, and powerful, and in many instances, more effective than a perfect rhyme can ever be. I have come to appreciate his poetic moxie, his brazen iconoclasm, his stretching of the normative, his ingenuity. Whereas I was once rather religious in my approach to rhymes, I now see in James Sale’s work how imperfect rhymes can be effective and of great beauty, and how he does not stray into the realm of formal poetic heresy. It is providing us with another way to look at English rhyming in poetry. It also provides an intentional alternative to the “predictability” inherent in perfect rhyme.

 

DoorWay is the third volume of the English Cantos trilogy. James Sale recounts his battle with cancer and descent into hell (HellWard, Vol. 1), his visit to purgatory (StairWell, Vol.2)  and his ascent into heaven (DoorWay, Vol. 3). Jospeh Salemi aptly describes the trilogy as a “medieval dream vision,” and throughout the entire work we encounter unusual, mystic, human, emotional, spiritual, and metaphysical realities. In DoorWay James Sale moves through the celestial constellations as he meets loved ones and poets (including, of course, Dante) and ultimately encounters God Himself. He combines mythology, astrology, and Christianity into a syncretic expression of the ultimate spiritual experience. 

 

James Sale has written all three volumes of The English Cantos in terza rima form. This form consists of three-line stanzas, with groups of three rhymes alternating in a chain-like, interlocking pattern (aba bcb cdc). Whereas with a sonnet, you need only find one rhymed pair per quatrain (in the Shakespearean or Spencerian forms) or per octet and most sestets (in the Petrarchan form), with terza rima you need three rhymes per two tercet sets. The option to employ imperfect rhyming opens many unexploited poetic possibilities for rhyming in this challenging form.

 

Consider this set of tercets, from Canto 4 (“Detour to Taurus”):

 

“In turning then, to glance at what I’d see 

Making disturbance so, and seeing, froze: 

I saw its wings beating effortlessly; 

 

Yet as they did flesh shifted, changed its clothes, 

Me glimpsing glimmerings of some star’s right

To be to which it must metamorphose:”

 

We have a delightful use of the word “metamorphose” as the rhyme to “froze” and “clothes”, yet it is a near-perfect rhyme. Compare this with the following imperfect rhymes in Canto 2 (“St. Dismas Speaks”):

 

“Reminding me before I made my flit 

Upwards, one action more to do, be sung: 

Even to contemplate, my soul was lit. 

 

‘Hail!’ and I turned, and saw the women’s tongues

Like flames of fire ascending to the heights, 

All nine, and one apart, more lovely, strong,”

 

Here we have the addition of “s” to “tongues” to rhyme with “sung” (some poets do this as a matter of course and do not consider this a form of imperfect rhyme, though I normally would), but then we have “strong” as a consonant rhyme to “sung” (where the final consonant rhymes but the preceding vowel is different). Contrast with the assonant rhymes in the following two tercets (Canto 1, “St. Dismas speaks”):

 

“So heavy that, despite Nenya which saves, 

My knees buckled and lungs collapsed like shelves; 

Yet for all that: epic faces, and braves: 

 

‘Hail! Hail! Great Muse, Calliope herself! 

Visit me now and with your beauty let

Me soar where you taught John those secret spells;"

 

Here we have “shelves”, “herself”, and spells”, which all have the same vowel, but the ending consonants are different. 

 

An example of eye rhyme further illustrates expanded rhyming possibilities (Canto 2, “Family Scales”):

 

“Such runes as testify His glory’s due; 

Though meshed in flesh, embedded in deep mud 

As you are; yet for all your filth accrued, 

 

Still chosen because His Will produces good 

Despite unworthy vessels of His grace. 

You know (I know!) and sing about His blood.’”

 

Here we have “mud” “good” and “blood”, and I have seen “good” and “blood” rhymed in Elizabethan poetry when I am pretty sure the words did actually rhyme, but we keep them as eye rhyme nowadays.

 

A particularly interesting use of imperfect rhyme is found in Canto 2 (“Family Scales”):

 

“So high, and first equal of those God made. 

Like twins they were, the one called Lucifer

Who fell to where no light is, no words prayed— 

 

His balance lost and righteousness tipped over—

So that in the midway of highest heaven 

Michael held firm to prove ultimate victor.”

 

I found this set of rhymes particularly interesting because I never thought to see Lucifer get his own rhyme! I also see that this is an actual perfect rhyme, because the schwa sound at the end of “Lucifer”, “over” and “victor” are the same sound, though spelled differently. So an eye rhyme of a different sort!

 

I approached reading DoorWay with the idea to listen to the rhymes in my head with a different place in the ear than what I am used to utilizing. I now think of James Sale’s poetry more as the way I might listen to a song, where imperfect rhymes are perfectly acceptable. Then it becomes more of an ornament to the pulses and rhythms and phraseology and storyline. I alertly relax, and enjoy the ride.

 

Not only did James Sale cause me to reconsider how to rhyme a poem, but he has filled me with wonder at some of the most inventive use of language I have ever read in poetry! Consider the following various lines:

 

“One hullabaloo, hubbub of joyous cries,”

 

“Some hypnagogic state holds one in lieu—“

 

“No sagging, sickly sorrows plaguing flesh,”

 

“My lips ablaze—cremating all my lies;”

 

“Linear, pillar-like of hot blue steam,”

 

“Behind, her hinds who fed on trefoil’s leaves 

Whose trifurcation tallied being blessed”

 

I have enjoyed every one of these poetic gems of language, and DoorWay is replete with them. 

 

Another fine feature of DoorWay are the excellent annotations by fellow poet and literary critic Andrew Benson Brown, who provides supplemental information and insight throughout the work. The Kindle version makes accessing the annotations very easy, and you do not lose your place as you are reading!

 

I started as a wary member of the School of The Perfect Rhyme At All Cost, but James Sale has made me a convert to the School of Rhyming Possibilities. In my own poetry going forward I hope to be more open to the sounds and variables inherent in imperfect rhyme. I recommend DoorWay, and the entire English Cantos, as an impressive and satisfying reading experience, a work of technical skill and artistic achievement, a masterpiece for the ages.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

James Sale has over 30 books to his credit listed on Amazon. In the U.K. his poems and literary work have appeared in the Bright Star Anthology, Heavenly Hymns: the 10th International Collection of English Poems, Footnotes, Iota, Krax, Linkway;,The Little Word Machine, Lynx, New Hope International, Ore, PN Review, Quaker News and Views, The Schools Poetry Review, Terrible Work, The Third Half, Towards Wholeness, and DawnTreader.In the US he has appeared in The Anglo Theological Review, Ancient Paths Literary Magazine, Bible Advocate, New Poetry, The Epoch Times, October Hill Magazine, Art Times Journal, Lowestoft Chronicle, Midwest Review of Books,The New Book Review, New Poetry, The Unchained Muse, and Honest Rust and Gold. Sale won First Prize in the Society of Classical Poets 2017 poetry competition and also First Prize in the 2018 Society of Classical Poets prose competition. Find more information about James Sale’s The English Cantos at https://englishcantos.home.blog/

 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Theresa Werba (formerly Theresa Rodriguez) is the author of eight books, four in poetry, including What Was and Is: Formal Poetry and Free Verse (Bardsinger Books, 2024) and Sonnets, a collection of 65 sonnets (Shanti Arts, 2020). Her work has appeared in such journals as The Scarlet Leaf Review, The Wilderness House Literary Review, Spindrift, Mezzo Cammin, The Wombwell Rainbow, Fevers of the Mind, The Art of Autism, Serotonin, The Road Not Taken, and the Society of Classical Poets Journal. Her work ranges from forms such as the ode and sonnet to free verse, with topics ranging from neurodivergence, love, loss, aging, to faith and disillusionment and more.  She also has written on autism, adoption and abuse/domestic violence. Find Theresa Werba at www.theresawerba.com and on social media @thesonnetqueen.

 

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog 

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Yes, even publishers who know the value of great book marketing begins with reviews!

Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog's  home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. 

 Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. 

Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing HowToDoItFrugally http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews.

Review of ASTROLOGY IN THE ERA OF UNCERTAINTY BY JOE LANDWEHR

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: ASTROLOGY IN THE ERA OF UNCERTAINTY

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: JOE LANDWEHR

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS joelandwehr@socket.net 

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://www.joelandwehr.com/astrologyintheeraofuncertainty

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 _x_ Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Armand Diaz, review originally published in the NCGR Memberletter, Spring 2024

INCLUDE THE THE REVIEW ITSELF, of course!

In a kind of symmetry, Joe Landwehr wishes more people would pay attention to astrology, and I wish more astrologers would pay attention to Joe Landwehr. He’s among the most original and grounded astrologers writing today, and his work has a tremendous benefit to offer the thinking astrologer: his work is always thought-provoking. Astrology in the Era of Uncertainty is his latest book, and perhaps his most accessible work.

Reading the title, I thought that I might be in for a book about mundane astrology and how to handle the aftermath of the last decade’s Uranus-Pluto square or other celestial signposts. What I found instead was a reorientation of astrology within the already-accepted ‘era of uncertainty’, an era that extends in both directions well beyond any current transits.

In the first chapters, the author takes up the question of astrology’s relationship to the dominant paradigm in Western culture, scientific materialism. This is a topic that has been frequently addressed by many astrologers— myself included—and Landwehr does an excellent job of showing both why the materialist paradigm is limited and why astrology doesn’t fit in as a science (and should stop trying to do so). 

Thinking that particular argument had been dispatched, I found to my surprise that Astrology in the Era of Uncertainty goes on to deconstruct not only scientific materialism, but the gushier side of the New Age, as well as traditional religion (to some extent). Landwehr has little tolerance for sloppy thinking, whether it comes from the rationalist or non-rationalist, and he doesn’t mind taking aim at astrologers who slide around in the mud of overgeneralizations and simplistic arguments.

The book presents a history of current thought; that is, how we got where we are, both astrologically and in the dominant paradigm. Landwehr follows the New Age back to its origins, and he traces astrology forward into Psychological Astrology and its more modern forms. While recognizing the value of the various twists, turns, and innovations, he also takes out the razor of discrimination to point out where things veer off course.

Although the material is philosophical and historic, Landwehr’s writing is clear and concise, and this makes the book very accessible and a pleasure to read. I read, reread, put it down, and took it up again many times, and presumethis is the way many of us will read it—taking time to think is part of the process.

Later in the book, the author presents an example of the astropoetic approach via an empirical exploration of decades of Vesta transits in his personal chart (actually, Vesta returns rather than transits). This more intimate approach works well to show us how astrological understanding develops as a blend of accepted knowledge with personal experience (although he never really stops addressing historical material).

Rather than resting on rigid principles in a mock-scientific formula, we are encouraged to move around freely within the parameters described by our art. This section of the book is sure to appeal to many astrologers, and it serves as a balance to the more philosophical material. Indeed, Landwehr talks about the balance between yin and yang approaches, or the hermeneutics of faith and suspicion.

It is a common endeavor among astrologers to try to situate astrology within the contemporary world, a world which is—as Landwehr points out—simultaneously hostile to astrology and fascinated by it, depending on what sector of society you fathom on the issue. Generally, I have found that authors on the subject wish to convince the greater world of astrology’s value, or at least generate a group effort to step outside of the dominant paradigm together. There’s often a tightness in these arguments, a plea of “don’t leave me hanging out here by myself.” By contrast, Joe Landwehr offers his insights with an open hand. Once you read Astrology in the Age of Uncertainty, you’ll understand far more about how astrology works, how it fits into contemporary culture, and how you can use it for your personal development as well as for your clients. It would make great summer reading for any and all astrologers, with endless opportunities to chew on the ideas presented.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Armand Diaz is a professional astrologer and a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops.  He is currently the president of the National Council for Geocosmic Research.  You can read more about his work at armanddiaz.com. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED:  Joe Landwehr is an astrologer of 50+ years experience, seeking an eclectic integration of astrology, spiritual psychology and ancient wisdom teachings. He is the author of five books and numerous articles for The Mountain Astrologer and other publications. He is Director of The Astropoetic School of Soul-Discovery, which offers individualized correspondence courses, webinar classes and workshops built around the correlation of astrological cycles with actual life experience. He has taught and lectured at ISAR conferences, the Midwest Astrology Conference, and online at International Academy of Astrology. More information about his work can be found at joelandwehr.com.

The Magnum Opus of a Master Poetess

The Magnum Opus of a Master Poetess: A Review of What Was and Is: Formal Poetry and Free Verse by Theresa Werba

 

By Andrew Benson Brown

 

 

What Was and Is: Formal Poetry and Free Verse

Theresa Werba

Bardsinger Books

978-0965695503

Released April 2024

$12.95 (Paperback) $6.99 (Kindle)

217 pages

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0965695506/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FbAFQVKkgMID7MrxbQT47p6i9QURU1mLEtGd5P1IDbHDVvu15phoqGiF5wLE_Yh8AaH1pBtTyX0UZE8F0OwQrg.xkTLvkI8kwJ8yTe-aVjN09MwWiXo9WWtou9U1oxa0Tk&qid=1713008651&sr=8-1

 

 

 

In What Was and Is: Formal Poetry and Free Verse, a magnum opus decades in the making, Theresa Werba reveals how the calling of poetry is infused into the very being of the writer. Werba is no mere scribbler of verse. In her list poem, “Poetess,” she catalogues the panoply of emotions that go into her vocation, beginning with:

Thinking, feeling, surging, trying,
Contemplating, dreaming, dying,
Resurrecting and creating,
Finding, telling, speculating…

           Theresa is considered one of the living masters of the sonnet (a fact which another reviewer has pointed out). I would point out, in addition, that she joins the likes of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Edna St. Vincent Millay as one of a handful of women in history to have become expert in this form. She does not confine herself to the sonnet, however. This collection is full of wondrous variety of forms, including some high quality free verse.

           Poems are organized thematically: creativity, love, the mind (about dealing mental illness), poems about people (some historical), her ‘other’ vocation as a professional singer, biographical poems, aging, and (in a fitting finale) her spiritual life.

           Sometimes a poem is included in one section that might well be in another. One might think the sonnet “For John of the Cross” would go in the section “Pantheon” with other historical figures, or perhaps in “Ever Towards Uncertainty,” the section of spiritual poems. But no. Werba slots it into the section “My Mental World is Overloaded,” devoted to her experiences with neurodivergence. It begins:

It was five years of darkness. I was dead
But barely breathing, living hardly; lain
About the marble slab. It was my bed
Where I would live, if life were sleep.
Heart slain Of all feeling— empty, absent, gone—
Was beating only, but no heart therein.

           We realize, of course, that this poem is as much about the poetess as the author of “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

           In the ballad, “A Formalist Poet's Lament,” Werba captures her approach to writing verse:

It saddens and perplexes me,
The things I hear of late,
Of how to create poetry,
And how to make it “great”:

I've heard it's not emotional,
It's nothing how you “feel;”
But it's entirely rational,
Not heartfelt in appeal.

           “For nature poems are fine and good,” she says a few lines down, “But what about the soul?” The soul is, indeed, what separates the true poet from the poetaster or AI program.
           It also might be said to be the theme of every poem here, whether hidden or overt—both in the general sense of ‘soulfulness,’ and also (we find later) in a more conventionally religious sense as well.
           Werba pulls out all the literary devices, often employing these in a mimetic way that reflects her theme and subject matter. In ‘Sonnet of the Hardened Heart,’ for example, parenthetical descriptions are enshelled within the details of her thoughts on erecting barriers of emotional protection:

Care less, I warn myself; bother no more
With inner crevices: prying the shell
Like scabs (rough, oozing, sore), which crust, but tell
Of tumults against the psychic seabed floor;
It is in vain. Swollen and hard around
The meat (like newborn skin, or the vaginal flower)….

           Werba belongs to that limited class of creatives who are adept in more than one field: in this case, music. Poetry and music have long had a deep connection, and her dual skills interpenetrate here. This section appropriately contains several actual songs, complete with instructions for performance. In “The Classical Singer’s Drink Offering,” we are invited to experience secondhand the ecstasy of music, which approximates both a sense of drunkenness and (as in the biblical passage from Numbers 28:7 that the title references) of spiritual inspiration. The closing stanza reads:

But after the heaves and pants, the shimmer, the ring,
The chill-bumps in the hairshafts, when my blood
Has leapt and circled corpuscular gamuts, filling
My mask with heat and sound, a kind of thud
Percusses my environs. I turn around
As if to see Him watching.
Oh, to face
Not loving half so much my very sound,
As Him for whom this pouring out took place.

           In “Venus and Adonis,” a long poem of over 100 lines, Werba demonstrates a capacity for extraordinary sensuality:

I see her standing there.
Ringlets of curls cascading down
Soft shoulders
Onto the copious breasts of pearl and alabaster.
The curls unfurl longer and longer,
Shining and reflecting like circle rings
The sun which hits them.

She walks, tall. Her feet bare and white,
Painted with lilies and grass.

The mountains in front of her
Are billows of soft escape,
And how I wish I could
Bury myself in them,
Taste and touch them,
Suckle them and know them,
Honor them and find them
Again and again.

           The uninhibited quality of passion that fits well with the spontaneity and irregularity of free verse, and I must confess that of all the varieties of this form, I enjoy the topic of love most. I shared this poem with a lady friend of mine, and she LOVED it. “So beautiful and raw,” was her impression.

            Werba’s ability in the spheres of both formal and free verse is reminiscent of some of the early modernists like Eliot, Stevens, and cummings, who moved to free verse styles after acquiring a deep familiarity with formal verse, allowing them to develop a unique voice and subtle structures. While Werba does not engage in the radical grammatical experiments of a cummings, her skills also reflected in several nonce poems—verses written in no named, congealed form, skirting the boundary between the formal and spontaneous.

            In the final section, we encounter a series of poems engaged in deep spiritual reflection. One of the most impressive in the collection is “The Supreme-Breasted One (El Shaddai).” A poem of praise as well as philosophical and personal reflection, it has an irregular structure, with stanzas of varying line length and number, as well as an irregular rhyme scheme:

The woman in my Father’s face
The ruach of my soul
Male images have hid the shad,
The breast, that El Shaddai has had
To comfort those, who wounded, have
Quite never been made whole.

Born anew? Yes; a birth it is—
But only from the pronoun “His”?
When earthly form so plainly shows
That woman is in what seed grows
And germinates, and procreates?
And she, whom Comfort has made flesh
To show His less, nay, more than “manliness”:
That He is really also “She”—
A femininity in Trinity?

           After five more stanzas, Werba, having assimilated an expertise for different forms, ends the poem with a couplet:

Now delivered, life from Life is come:
O feed me, fill me, Supreme-Breasted One.

           As a master of the sonnet form, Werba is particularly adept at ending her poems with a powerful two-line punch like this. Its unexpected appearance as the closing to an ode makes it all the more effective.

           The poems discussed and excerpted here are only a slice of the rainbow this collection contains. It is well-organized (and elegantly formatted): beginning with personal reflections on creativity and eros, we move through history, life, and finally come full circle into the realm of the spirit—all while never ceasing to be personal. In terms of both diversity and depth, Werba is both a poet for our time, and for all time.

MORE ABOUT THE POET

 

Theresa Werba the author of eight books, four in poetry, including the newly-released What Was and Is: Formal Poetry and Free Verse (Bardsinger Books, 2024). Her work has appeared in such journals as The Scarlet Leaf Review, The Wilderness House Literary Review, Spindrift, Mezzo Cammin, The Wombwell Rainbow, Fevers of the Mind, The Art of Autism, Serotonin, The Road Not Taken, and the Society of Classical Poets Journal. Her work ranges from forms such as the ode and sonnet to free verse, with topics ranging from neurodivergence, love, loss, aging, to faith and disillusionment and more.  She also has written on autism, adoption and abuse/domestic violence. Find Theresa Werba at www.bardsinger.com and on social media @thesonnetqueen.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

 

Andrew Benson Brown is a poet and journalist living in Kansas City. He is the author of Legends of Liberty, a mock-historical poetic epic. He is a member of the Society of Classical Poets, where he regularly contributes poetry, essays, and reviews. His work has been published in a number of journals. He is also an arts columnist for the Epoch Times and a history writer for American Essence magazine.

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog 

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing HowToDoItFrugally http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. Pre-format the post editor for each new post. Cancel Save Post published

Book Review: RAINBOW PANDA by Lisa Muchnik

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: RAINBOW PANDA 

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Lisa Muchnik 

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS: lisag79@aol.com

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS:

www.lisamuchnik.com

Amazon link: Rainbow Panda https://a.co/d/91nHw4W

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 __x Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. - as per previous email, we discussed that it was ok to share 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Booklist, the official book review magazine of the American Library Association 

THE REVIEW:

Little Panda loves doing yoga. Each day he takes class with the other jungle animals, stretching, posing, and balancing his body. But one day, Little Panda leaves class uncharacteristically sad. He realized that he didn’t have bright feathers like Peacock, yellow and brown patches like Giraffe, or colorful exteriors like Iguana and Flamingo. He is only black and white! Wise Mama Panda knows just what to say, reassuring him that he is colorful on the inside. She begins to tell him about his chakras, walking him (and readers) through the colors and meanings of an individual’s seven energy wheels. As each energy is introduced, the illustrations emphasize its representative hue, connecting Little Panda to his inner self as well as the world around him. By the end of this more spiritual exercise, Little Panda looks in the mirror and sees his colorful chakras shining bright inside of him. This positive story about self-acceptance will also work well for lessons on mindfulness.

— Rosie Camargo

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER:\

www.booklistonline.com

@booklist_ala on Instagram 

@ALA_Booklist on twitter 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED:

Lisa Muchnik is a children’s book author, nurse anesthetist, mother of two, and certified yoga instructor, with a specialty in aerial yoga. Having a lifelong desire to write books for kids and a love for yoga and the chakras, it was only natural she would bring these aspects together in her debut children’s book Rainbow Panda. She is a believer in the power of passion and dreams. She loves caring for and connecting with people in all aspects of her life - her children, her patients, her yoga students, and now her readers! Check out her website www.lisamuchnik.com, and follow her on Instagram @lisamuchnik 

Great Reviews For Tales2Inspire ~ The Ruby Collection

TITLE OF BOOK: 

Tales2Inspire ~ The Ruby Collection (Gifts of Compassion)

  ISBN-10: 149594008X

  ISBN-13: 978-1495940088

ANTHOLOGY BY AUTHOR/EDITOR:

LOIS W. STERN

FAVORITE LINKS:

https:/www.tales2inspire.com

/twitter.com/tales2inspire2

/youtube.com/winningtales 

ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 X Yes, I have received permission from each reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 

CELEBRATING THESE GREAT REVIEWS FOR 

TALES2INSPIRE ~ THE RUBY COLLECTION

TRUE STORIES OF INSPIRATION, COMPASSION AND LOVE

By Gail Sobotkin 

I have read each story and can honestly say I don't have a favorite. Each and every story touched my heart deeply. If you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where people and animals are treated with compassion, kindness and love, where the human spirit rises up again and again to meet seemingly impossible challenges, where faith triumphs over despair, where young children and abused animals teach adult humans life lessons, where the homeless are treated with respect and compassion, you must read The Ruby Collection, an amazing anthology of 14 true stories that will inspire you to live your own life with an open heart--- despite, or perhaps because of, whatever difficulties you may face.

Compassion is a gift that keeps on giving; it changes the giver, recipient, and all those who witness the compassionate act. It makes the world a better, kinder place and when delivered with love, has the power to transform the globe one person, one animal at a time.

The Ruby Collection makes a great gift for children and adults. Treat yourself to a copy and buy one for your friends, colleagues and relatives. Ask them to read the book then pass it on to an institution such as a library, hospital or school so that the stories will be spread far and wide, planting seeds of inspiration, compassion and love.

INSPIRING 

By Shauna L Bowling

Freelance Writer/Copy Editor

. . . a book of inspiration that uplifts the reader with each story. From human/animal spiritual connections to human/human connections, these true stories of courage, love, and strength are proof that good exists in the world. We can and do overcome the odds each and every day. If you have any doubts about the power of love, read this book. All it takes is one person to reach out to make positive changes in someone's life.

I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages. It just may change your life!

ANOTHER CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

By Bani Sodermark

Reviewer for Book Pleasures and Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer

This is a feel good book documenting a collection of true stories that involve genuine empathy and kindness to other living beings including oneself. It arose out of a writing contest by an organization called "Authors Helping Author" and includes the best contributions that were submitted. The result is a very readable and well written book enshrined in the symbol of the ruby which stands for kindness and compassion.

That which is most appealing about this collection of stories is that the kindness shown at one instance of time is nearly always repaid in some way or other, forging deep and lasting bonds as the protagonists walk their life paths in tandem with one another. In some cases, they may experience a total reversal of a bodily malfunction as in the case of the first story, in which a man took care of a wounded eagle, unable to fly and nursed it to wellness. Later on, he was afflicted with cancer and he is convinced that dream conversations with his pet eagle, supplemented with chemo, was the cause of his total recovery.

A second story documents the success of a program called "Labs`n Life" in which dysfunctional children with learning and other problems are made to train Labradors. The interaction with these intelligent and loving animals, miraculously opens up these children and helps them integrate into the mainstream.

The theme of working with animals continues with the rehabilitation stories of Dusty the horse and Rae the dog who are restored to their playful selves and fulfil memorable relationships with their caregivers.

A few of the stories will touch you deep down inside. There is the erstwhile convict, Ray, who after years of confrontation with the bullying and sadistic warden of the penitentiary that he had occupied since his late teens, helped set fire to it. The warden was changed to one who had a record of successfully rehabilitating dreaded inmates and the whole atmosphere of the place changed as the convicts applied their energies to study and vocational training. There were no more incidents of arson or otherwise and our friend, Ray, after he was released was able to successfully land a job, get married and raise a family.

There is the holocaust survivor, who neutralized the actions of local politicians by going out with his own message of peaceful coexistence, ultimately reaching out to millions.

Another story that I will find difficult to forget is the story of a young African American black belt karate champion on the karate circuit, who it seems always acted rough if he or his team lost. It turned out that he had dedicated his life to saving children in the roughest quarters of Miami from a life of crime, by loading as many as possible into a van that was to take them to the tournament. If he did not win, he would have to borrow the money for the gas home.

There is the story of a former citizen of Rwanda, who returned to his homeland after the genocide and helped many people work their way out of poverty using his engineering skills and thus finding the way to his true calling. . . . 

Other inspiring stories include that of a young woman who appeared in the Guinness Book of Records after running seven marathons in seven continents. There is also the unusual story of window cleaners outside a hospital dressing up as children's heroes, e.g. Batman to cheer up children suffering from debilitating diseases.

The length of the manuscript is optimal, not too long, not too short.

This book, in my opinion, the best so far, in the Tales 2 Inspire series, created by Editor, Lois W. Stern. The storytelling is chiseled and evocative. . . .  One can never read too many of such stories, of seeing the way love and spirit redefine priorities and guide the human race out of black holes of its own making.