70, 69

It was a slow moving week last week. I got two more in, but just barely.

Disquiet : Julia Leigh -Finally, something really disturbing. This short, almost novella of a book deals with an absurdly wealthy and weird Australian family dealing with a stillborn death at their family estate in France. High points? Putting the dead baby in the fridge to keep it from spoiling. The father of the dead child nursing from the mother who is just shy of being out of her mind. Oh, and they have two absolutely unlikeable other children who seem to torment everyone within a square mile (including an oblivious, distant grandmother who doesn't always understand what they're saying to her). It's a well-written book that deals with a serious subject without flinching. It's life, death and moving on. Loved it.

Bicycles : Niki Giovanni -I'm a fan. I've dug her poems since I first read "Quilting The Black-eyed Pea." The title references a couple of different ideas. Bicycles, as in falling in love is like riding a bicycle. Bicycles, as in a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. These poems are almost entirely about falling in love, getting let down in love and even love for her family and the college where she teaches (Niki Giovanni teaches at Virginia Tech and was one of the professors who taught the kid who went on the killing spree). This book is fun and light, without the familiar references to Tupac and Thug Life. She mostly stays away from her political and social commentary and just focuses on the human heart. It's kind of like a box of chocolates from a serious poet.