LLA Reads: Spirit, Body, and Mind

At Louisville Literary Arts, we all love to read. But our interests in literature are as varied as hats on Derby Day. Some of us gravitate toward poetry, while others prefer an epic novel. A few of us love reading creative nonfiction. In this space, we recommend recent books we've read, and hope that you'll find something just right for your reading list.

Lynnell Recommends: COUNTRY OF GHOST by Gaylord Brewer (Red Hen Press, 2015)

Genre: Poetry

"Louisville native and InKY alumnus Gaylord Brewer's ninth collection of poetry is a rare haunting. In three, geographically defined sections (Spain, Finland, France) Brewer chronicles the appearance, as well as the life and times of Ghost -- a persona not quite dead, but not fully in this life. Ghost seems to be at once muse, voyeur, and foil for the speaker, as he pursues the ordinary (hanging his laundry, paring his nails) and the extraordinary (preparing for his funeral, recalling his wedding day). Brewer's expansive talent carries the conceit brilliantly poem after poem."

John recommends: USES OF THE BODY by Deborah Landau (Copper Canyon, 2015)

Genre: Poetry

"Deborah Landau’s latest poetry collection offers an intimate and deeply lyric look into the subject of its title: the body’s 'uses,' we learn, are wide-ranging. The perspective in the poems is decidedly feminine, and Landau considers sex, desire, pregnancy, and childbirth from that point of view. The poems themselves are by turns whimsical, repetitive, lush, witty, and emotive. They at points recall Sylvia Plath, at others Emily Dickinson or Adrienne Rich. In all cases, The Uses of the Body relishes in quotidian details—'[t]omatoes, Keats, / meeting a smart man for a drink'—reminding readers to cherish what Landau calls the 'basic pleasures' of life."

Adam recommends: EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM by Hannah Arendt (Viking, 1963)

Genre: Journalistic Narrative

"This book is, "Hannah Arendt's portrayal of the terrible consequences of blind obedience...Sparking a flurry of heated debate, Arendt's authoritative and stunning report on the trial of German Nazi SS leader Adolf Eichmann first appeared as a series of articles in The New Yorker in 1963." The complexity of view Arendt provides is like no other I've encountered in novels, histories, biographies, or film about the Holocaust. She is analytical, questioning, and unfailingly intelligent, offering not only historical and biographical content, but critical and intellectual engagement that makes this book hard to turn away from."

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If you would like us to consider recommending your book, please contact LLA Reads editor Alice, who will let you know how to get your book to our readers.