Everyone Should Read: CHANGE THE WORLD ONE BOOK AT A TIME:

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK:

Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words 

NAME OF AUTHOR OF BOOK: 

Nina Amir

 

THE REVIEW:

For writers who wish to make a real difference, this comprehensive guide is a must-read. As author Amir acknowledges in the first chapter of this book, attempting to become an author of change can feel hugely daunting—but 'someone needs your book.' In Change the World One Book at a Time, she leads (and cheerleads) you through every step of the journey—from clarifying your message for yourself to putting it on the page in a way that will most effectively reach an audience—making what might otherwise feel like an overwhelming challenge accessible for all."

~ Brooke Warner, author of Write on, Sisters! and publisher of She Writes Press

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: 

Nina Amir, the Inspiration to Creation Coach, is an 19X Amazon bestselling hybrid author. She supports writers on the journey to successful authorship as an Author Coach, nonfiction developmental editor, Transformational Coach, and Certified High Performance Coach (CHPC^®)—the only one working with writers. 

    Nina is also a long time San Francisco Writers Conference volunteer and presenter. She now coordinates the Personal Growth for Writers track and the Writing for Change Summit. Nina’s most recent book, Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words, will be published on January 6, 2026 by Books that Save Lives. (It is now available for pre-order, and those who purchase prior to January 6 receive two valuable bonuses—a “Clarify Your Purpose” journal and a course about authoring change. Order here.) 

    Previously, she wrote three traditionally published books for aspiring authors—How to Blog a Book, The Author Training Manual, and Creative Visualization for Writers. Additionally, she has self-published a host of books and ebooks, including the Write Nonfiction NOW! series of guides. She has had 19 books on the Amazon Top 100 List and as many as six books on the Authorship bestseller list at the same time. 

    Nina is an award-winning journalist and blogger, as well as a successful nonfiction developmental editor. Some of her editing clients have sold 300,000+ copies of their books, landed deals with major publishing houses and created thriving businesses around their books.

    To further support writers, Nina created the Nonfiction Writers’ University, where members access a huge archive of resources, such as courses, ebooks, and interviews with writing and publishing experts, and receive monthly group Author Coaching. Additionally, she created the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge and Author of Change Transformational Programs. 

    Nina also founded the Inspired Creator Community, which provides group transformational (spiritual and personal growth) coaching around the topic of creating what matters. Many writers join this program to support their efforts to become authors.

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: 

Visit www.ninaamir.com

And read her blog at ninaamir.com/blog   

Read her writing-related blogs at writenonfictionnow.com  and howtoblogabook.com as well.

 

Follow her on social media sites!

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/InspirationToCreation

X/Twitter https://twitter.com/NinaAmir

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninaamir

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/inspirationtocreationcoach/

YouTube   https://www.youtube.com/ninaamir 

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ninaamir/ 

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inspiredcreator?lang=en

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/ninaamir.bsky.social

ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

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

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Brooke Warner, author of Write on, Sisters! and publisher of She Writes Press

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: 

Brooke Warner is a passionate champion of writers and authors and her life’s work is supporting people to get published. She is profoundly grateful to have landed in this career at the tender age of 22. Brooke has worked across many segments of the publishing industry, and because of her background, she is publishing agnostic. She supports writers to get published—traditionally and independently (hybrid or self-publishing).    

Brooke started her publishing career in 2000, and worked for traditional publishers for 13 years. In 2012, she left her job as Executive Editor of Seal Press to co-found She Writes Press with Kamy Wicoff, founder of SheWrites.com. She tells the story of why I left traditional publishing in my TEDx talk: “Green-Light Revolution.”   Brooke invites you to join her weekly via her podcast, Memoir Nation (formerly Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers), which you can find wherever you listen to your podcasts, and also on her Substack, “Writerly Things,” where Brooke posts weekly dispatches about publishing and memoir. Brooke is currently the Board Chair of the Bay Area Book Festival. She is the past Board Chair of the Independent Book Publishers Association, an organization that’s near and dear to her heart. In 2024, she was awarded the Publishing Professionals Network’s Distinguished Service Award. 

    Brooke brings a wide range of disciplines and interests to coaching, including the Ennegram and the Diamond Approach®. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) with theCoaches Training Institute (CTI), a leading program in coaching that’s accredited by the International Coach Federation.

    Brooke earned her B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University, and her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from San Francisco State University.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER:

Brooke has published several books, including Green Light Your Book, The Magic of Memoir, and Write On, Sisters! Find all her books here: brookewarner.com/books/

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS :

nina@ninaamir.com

X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NinaAmir

Conversation opened. 2 messages. 2 messages unread.

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. 

UNWIFEABLE - Can Excessive Hedonism Be a Fulfilling Way of Life?

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: UNWIFEABLE

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Mandy Stadtmiller

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS mandystadt@gmail.com

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://mandystadtmiller.com/

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 X I am the reviewer and give TNBR permission to print this review.

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Abigail Adams

INCLUDE THE THE REVIEW ITSELF, of course!

Mandy Stadtmiller’s Unwifeable is an unrelenting book, which shows the limits of excessive hedonism as a fulfilling way of life. It also shows what is truly necessary for genuine personal fulfilment, and in that way provides inspiration and hope.

Newly divorced in 2005, thirty year old Mandy upped sticks and made her way to the Big Apple for a fresh start, taking on a role with the New York Post. She is driven to make a name for herself, but discovers that the world she has entered is nowhere near as glamorous in reality as it appears from a distance. In fact, the more she gets to know it, the less attractive it becomes. This separation between attractive appearances and raw realities is one of the dominant themes in Unwifeable.

Sharing an apartment with a couple, Mandy takes up her role as a dating columnist – though her own experiences in the dating scene are lurid to say the least. She lives a heady life of booze-filled parties and casual sex – a life which becomes progressively more shallow and meaningless to her the longer that she continues to pursue it. The deep sense of shame which she feels for living this way gnaws at her, yet she persists with it – largely because to stop would be to admit that starting to live this way was a mistake. Insights of this kind are constant in Unwifeable.

Mandy does not shy away from sharing the decisions she made, the consequences of those decisions, and her reflections on her experiences. She is very honest about her experiences, and about the fact that she was searching for something she had all along but neglected. She was looking for her soulmate, and her soulmate was none other than Mandy herself.

There’s a rawness to Unwifeable that can be uncomfortable, but this is what makes it credible. You don’t doubt that Mandy is telling you the truth, as there is way too much detail in her stories for it to be created by a fantasist. She doesn’t hold back on just how self-destructive her way of life was, and is harsher on herself than she is on anyone else.

It’s a very human story in a lot of ways – Mandy has her insecurities and fears, but lived as though these didn’t exist and embraced all the hedonism that was on offer to mask her inner doubts. Many readers will be able to identify with this trait, pursuing a way of life and acting fearlessly while being plagued with all sorts of doubts. It helps you to connect with Mandy and her journey, and maybe learn from her experiences in facing up to your own difficulties in life.

While you might not have the same colorful setting as the media world of Manhattan, it doesn’t mean that Mandy’s life experiences can’t be useful to you. Unwifeable is an uplifting and inspiring tale, and it is very, very funny. It’s also very poignant, for Mandy lays bare all her personal struggles and her efforts to overcome them. I won’t say too much more, but the ending is worth the price of the book alone. The journey to that ending, however, is also worthwhile. Very highly recommend.

This review was originally published on Goodreads, and the link to the original review can be found here.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: I’m Abigail, and I’m a big book lover who is interested in all genres.
REVIEWER'S TWITTER MONIKER: @AAdams22700

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: Mandy Stadtmiller is an author and columnist for New York magazine, former editor-at-large of xoJane, "Girl Talk" columnist for Penthouse and host of the comedy podcast "News Whore." She is also known for her dating column in the New York Post, called "About Last Night."

She is on Twitter/X at @mandystadt

A Trove on Book Help for Authors from Midwest Book Review

I couldn’t resist publishing this note from the Editor-in-Chief of MidwestBookReview.com, Jim Cox. With his standing permission to publish his letters (but I still always double check!) It has so many possibilities for the visitors and subscribers to this #TheNewBookReview who probably already know I think books from bona fide experts at the most frugal way to keep up-to-date on everything authors need to know (yes, including mine!) for the success of their books in this fast-moving world of publishing--regardless of the the press they decided to print their books.  No #bookbigotry will you find here! But still plenty of respect for traditional publishers and their authors. 

Dear Carolyn

 

Great to hear from one of my oldest cyber-space pen pals.

 

And of course, I always get a smile on my face when hearing that something I wrote proved of interest and get quoted accordingly! 

 

Jim Cox

Midwest Book Review

 

On Dec 4, 2024, at 12:40 AM, mwbookrevw@aol.com wrote:

Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:

Even though I've been an active observer of the publishing industry for going on five decades now, I am still regularly discovering new resources for authors, publishers, and bibliophiles. That is one the most treasured perks of being a book reviewer, as well as the editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review.

In the course of writing a review of author Sarah Fessel's book, "Switchling", I noted that she had registered it on something called Books 2 Read -- a kind of "Universal Link" for the online marketing of books. That was a new one to me and it is a website that apparently allows authors to have their books automatically registered with several different online booksellers (including Amazon & Barnes & Noble) at one go -- for free.

I asked Sarah for further information on this online book selling resource and she helpfully replied:

Dear Jim

The universal link is free to generate. If you register on the site (also for free) you can edit it later on. It was created by Draft2Digital, the self-publishing service. There are some FAQs here:
https://books2read.com/faq/author

I first heard about it through Alli, The Alliance of Independent Authors and also through Sally Jenkins' blog https://sally-jenkins.com/2020/04/21/universal-buy-link-for-all-e-book-retailers

Any author can use this service. I'm hoping there aren't any hidden drawbacks that I have not yet realized! Books2Read's written agreement seemed OK, though I'm not any kind of legal expert.

Thanks again for all your help and support,

Sarah Fessel

If anyone else has had experience with Books2Read I would very much like to hear your opinion about it. Here is the direct link to the Books2Read website:

https://books2read.com/links/ubl/create

Quote of the Month

"Just as books are important to review, so are the people who review them!" -- Steve Schafer

Website of the Month

Young Writers Project

https://youngwritersproject.org

Here are reviews of new books that will be of special interest to authors, publishers and bibliophiles:

The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement
Julie A. Gorges
I-Form Ink Publishing
https://iforminkpublishing.com
9798990106512, $27.99, HC, 290pp

https://www.amazon.com/Next-Chapter-Writing-Retirement/dp/B0DJD47763

Synopsis: "The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement" by Julie A. Gorges contains a wealth of 'real world practical' and essential information to help any aspiring writer achieve their literary ambition. But, if you're retired or looking for an encore career, this combination instructional guide and 'how to' manual is written specifically with you in mind.

As an international award-winning author, blogger, and freelance writer for over three decades, Julie A Gorges has drawn upon her years of experience and expertise to write an empowering book to help you write your way to a happy and fulfilling retirement. It is her justifiably contention that you are never too old to pursue your passion to write!

"The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement" provides just the inspiration and motivation you need while sharing Gorges' extensive knowledge and experience to jump-start your writing during your golden years.

With plenty of encouragement and help, you will explore all the many options available today - whether you want to write for pleasure or profit. Once you decide which direction to take, this DIY manual will guide you down your path with easy-to-understand steps to accomplish your goals.

The comprehensive guide includes vital tips on how to:

Find inspiration for ideas
Create the perfect writing space and develop a writing routine
Write a novel, non-fiction book, or your life story
Find an agent and/or publishing house
Become an indie writer and self-publish at no cost
Promote and market your book
Write articles that sell and find freelance gigs on the Internet
Start, promote, and monetize a blog
Write travel articles and books
Pen poetry or write a play
Start a journal

For further inspiration, "The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement" includes interviews with retirees who successfully took up writing in their golden years. They share a variety of viewpoints, share a practical and realistic portrayal of what it takes to get started in this industry, and explain how they overcame challenges.

Critique: Exceptionally well written and comprehensive, "The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement" is thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation. This hardcover edition of "The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement" by author Julie Gorges must be considered essential reading for anyone of any age who seeks to write and publish a novel, memoir, non-fiction book, or blog. It will prove invaluable to anyone who aspires to become a freelancer or travel writer, pen poetry, start journaling, and write a play as their encore career in retirement. While also available in a paperback edition (9780976327493, $17.99), "The Next Chapter: Writing in Retirement" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, Senior Citizen center, college and university library Writing/Publishing collections and Creative Writing Workshop curriculums/studies lists.

Editorial Note: Julie A. Gorges (https://juliegorges.com) is an international award-winning author and a member of the Authors Guild. Hundreds of her articles and short stories have been published in national and regional magazines including "Woman's World," "True Romance," and "Cricket." She received three journalism awards from the Washington Newspaper Association and her blog, "Baby Boomer Bliss," was recognized as one of the top 50 baby boomer blogs on the web.

Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay
Nancy Slonim Aronie
New World Library
www.newworldlibrary.com
9781608689309, $18.95 PB, $9.99 Kindle, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Secrets-Perfect-Personal-Essay/dp/1608689301

Diane Donovan
Reviewer

Aspiring writers committed to telling their stories via the personal essay form receive important guidelines to making the most of this format in Nancy Slonim Aronie's Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay.

Her guide uses examples from her own work and those of others to review quality and diverse approaches to creating a personal essay that will easily resonate with writers. Some of these include basic writing guidelines, from how to create a 'can't-put-it-down' hook from the start to employing structure and themes in a manner that elevates the personal essay's production and format.

Readers interested in developing top-notch writing skills in this genre should place Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay at the top of their reading lists.

"The Midwest Book Review Postage Stamp Hall Of Fame & Appreciation" is a monthly roster of well-wishers and supporters. These are the generous folk who decided to say 'thank you' and 'support the cause' that is the Midwest Book Review by donating to our postage stamp fund.

Laurie Schnider -- "Gittel"
Paulette Mahurin -- "Two Necklaces"
Sarah Mars/SG Fessel -- "Switchling"
Brad M. Meslin -- "The Moldavian Gambit"
Suzanne Rizzolo -- "The Rose in the Wheel"
Charlotte Parker-Caminos -- "New Beginnings"
Steven Byers -- "Son of the Doomsday Prophet"
Momoko Uno -- "Bringing Sunshine back to my Mind"
Alexander Reynolds -- "Manifest Your Immaculate Conception"
Satyam Press
Lost Lakes Press
Book Award Pro
Aaxel Author Services
Girl Friday Productions
Fickle Dragon Publishing
Kama TImbrell Communications
Gary Greenbert -- Pereset Press
Artie Knapp -- Noodle Poodle Books
Elizabeth Frazier -- Waldmania! PR

In lieu of (or in addition to!) postage stamp donations, we also accept PayPal gifts of support to our postage stamp fund for what we try to accomplish in behalf of the small press community.

Simply log onto your PayPal account and direct your kindness (in any amount and at your discretion) to the Midwest Book Review at: SupportMBR [at] aol.com (The @ is replaced by "[at]" in the above email address, in an attempt to avoid email-harvesting spambots.)

If you have postage stamps to donate, or if you have a book you'd like considered for review, then send those postage stamps (always appreciated, never required), or a published copy of that book (no galleys, uncorrected proofs, or Advance Reading Copies), accompanied by a cover letter and some form of publicity release to my attention at the address below.

All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review website at www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/jimcox.htm. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to be signed up for it.

So until next time -- goodbye, good luck, and good reading!

Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575

PS. If you aren’t already subscribe to Jim’s newsletter, know that it’s free and there is no one out there more familiar with the exigencies of the last...mmmm...maybe 50 years than he is!

•  Happy holidays--frugally from my co-author Magdalena Ball and me.                     
•  Quick Delivery of the e-books on our Celebration Series of Chapbooks on Amazon’s New Series Page.                                           
• Just use Amazon’s Amazon search engine with those magical keywords to find it.

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

GREAT REVIEW FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING – Banish the Butterflies by JanHurst-Nicholson

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: PUBLIC SPEAKING – Banish the Butterflies

 

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Jan Hurst-Nicholson

 

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS jannev@mweb.co.za

 

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://just4kix.jimdofree.com/

 

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: (Karen Siddall, public speaker, originally reviewed on Amazon.com )

 

INCLUDE THE REVIEW ITSELF, of course! 

5.0 out of 5 stars 

MUST-READ FOR NEW PUBLIC SPEAKERS AND RENEWING FOR THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR AWHILE

REVIEWED in the United States on Amazon.com

As a career public speaker, I can say that this book was an awesome little breath of inspiration and renewal. Good, common-sensical tips are presented in a practical way. Very helpful and refreshing and full of good ideas that I wish I’d had when I was just starting out. I especially enjoyed the asides of actual experiences “on the road.” I recommend this book especially to those that find themselves having to speak up and speak out at public gatherings of any kind! There is even a section regarding being chosen to say grace before a public meal.

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: 

Jan Hurst-Nicholson began her writing career over 40 years ago by penning “Letters to the Editor” (a good exercise in brevity, and winning letters can pay handsomely). She then went on to write magazine articles, short stories, humour, children’s and teen books, a variety of novels and non-fiction. After winning her first writing award 35 years ago and begging the MC not to ask her to give an acceptance speech she realised she needed to join a public speaking club. This gave her the self-confidence to promote her books by speaking at libraries, schools, clubs and various events (writers can become minor celebrities in their community) and she went on to become an educator in public speaking. In this book Jan shares her experiences as a public speaker hoping to encourage others to learn this life-changing skill.  She has also added some fun anecdotal stories from other speakers about the pitfalls and pratfalls they encountered. Jan originally lived in the UK but now resides in a retirement village in South Africa, where she finds plenty of ideas for another novel. Learn more about Jan’s writing on her website https://just4kix.jimdofree.com/

 

REVIEWER'S TWITTER MONIKER: https://twitter.com/just4kixbooks

 

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

TALES2INSPIRE ~ THE JADE COLLECTION: Celebrated by Jorge Barboza

TITLE OF BOOK: TALES2INSPIRE ~ THE JADE COLLECTION

CREATOR, EDITOR, AUTHOR: LOIS W. STERN

GENRE OR CATEGORY: MEMOIR - ANTHOLOGY

REVEWED BY: JORGE BARBOZA

ISBN #:   979-8858240747

REVIEW:

Amazing & Exciting Stories

If you're searching for exhilarating and genuine narratives designed to plunge you into the core of turbulent waters, steer through hazardous paths, track down distant relatives worldwide, or traverse in a self-constructed car from South America to Detroit, this publication will undoubtedly enchant you. Granted the opportunity to examine and appraise numerous stories therein, I encourage you to undertake this

REVIEWER’S BRIEF BIO:

I am a writer born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, in 1981, with a deep appreciation for my country's culture and Latin American history, which serves as a constant inspiration for my writings. As a young child, I cherished moments spent in a hammock by my grandfather's side, where he would regale me with stories while gently rocking me to sleep. His storytelling focused on the extraordinary achievements of ordinary individuals, and this narrative style has influenced my own work, aiming to provide readers with an uplifting, well-crafted, yet humble experience.

REVIEWER’S FAVORITE LINKS: 

https://tales2inspire.com/from-machicos-to-detroit/ 

ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

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

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Author, Screenwriter

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER:

In 2007, I was fortunate enough to win a Latin Grammy as a producer for the best music video, which opened doors for me to pursue my dreams in the USA, where I relocated in 2008. Since then, I have had the honor of receiving recognition for my screenwriting, including being named a finalist and semifinalist in esteemed festivals such as Hollyshorts and Raindance

________________________________________

MORE ABOUT LOIS W. STERN AND HER TALES2INSPIRE PROJECT:

Lois W. Stern's Tales2Inspire was a kernel of an idea that started in 2012 and has grown to proportions even she didn’t dare to envision. Her innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea. But it was the confused state of traditional publishing that propelled her forward. Tales2Inspire delivers exactly what it promises as both an ‘Authors Helping Authors’ project and a contest. Winners get their stories published in print, e-book and some even in video formats, with their names, headshot photos, and mini-autobiographies included. Then she spreads the word about the winners and their stories on her blogs, social media and monthly newsletter. FREE to enter, this is a great competition for talented newbies and seasoned authors alike.  Learn more here:

Tales2Inspire website: https://www.tales2inspire.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tales2inspire2

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

LinkedIn profile: http://tinyurl.com/odtw2wt

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts

Tales2Inspire trailer: https://youtu.be/FuDgXkYMHvo

Blog: https://www.tales2inspire.com/blog