I’ve been devoting most of my free time to writing since New Year’s, so reading has fallen by the wayside, but I did fit in a few novels and one excellent poetry collection.

The Joy Luck Club has been on my to-read list for years, but the library didn’t have it. When I found a cheap used copy, I snatched it up. It did not disappoint. Dynamic, fully-fleshed-out characters; smart, incisive look at mother-daughter relationships; seamless fading between timelines.

Learned By Heart, on the other hand, was a letdown. I love coming-of-age novels but, honestly, period fiction really has to earn my trust. This one failed to do that. The characters (based on real people!) had plenty of potential, but it went mostly unrealized. The story wandered and the characters changed little despite the long timeline. Most of the plot was revealed early on, which didn’t leave me much to read for.

As for the other three novels, I left each of them feeling that some piece of the story was missing – like they didn’t quite close the loop. BUT the lifelike characters and striking images made them well worth the read regardless.

And on the poetry front, I read Christian Wiman’s collection “Once in the West” on the recommendation of a friend with very good taste. It’s been a while since I’ve read through a whole collection, and it was so nice to do it again! It gave me time to get to know Wiman’s style and watch him explore. The wordplay was at times excessive for my taste, but at least one line in every couple of poems truly knocked my socks off.

NOVELS

• The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
• Learned By Heart, Emma Donoghue
• Woman of Light, Kali Fajardo-Anstine
• Hiding in Plain Sight, Nuruddin Farah
• After This, Alice McDermott

POETRY

• Once in the West, Christian Wiman