The Art of Haiku
Stephen Addiss

If you enjoy short poems or delightful visual art, this book is for you. It was my first introduction to haiga, visual art specifically created to accompany haiku. Addiss illustrates his work liberally with exemplary poems and samples of visual works created to accompany them, stressing the point that they were created to be enjoyed together. He traces the history of short form poetry in Japanese society, beginning with tanka, a five line form poem popular early in the previous millennium and continued into the present day, and contrasts it with the Chinese style poetry which was popular in the imperial court. He follows this with biographies of the three acknowledged masters of Haiku and Haiban, Basho (17th century), Buson (18h century)and Issa (19th century). The chapters on these three include illustrations of their artwork, as do the sections on Zen poets and early 20th century haiku poets. He ends the work at World War II, stating that Haiku has since become a world wide phenomenon, and a description of it in recent years would fill another book. I found it a delightful read.

I did experience some difficulty navigating between the text and the illustrations on my Kindle Fire. Apparently the publishers originally placed the illustrations in the center of the book and the clickable links in the Kindle edition were difficult to operate with touch screen. The screen size also made some of the illustrations difficult to view. I will try looking at it with the Kindle App on my laptop, 

I have now acquired a hardbound copy. Although I am happy with the other books in my kindle library, I like the size and accessibility of the illustrations in the bound copy better than the ebook, in this particular case.

Moon Over Taylor’s Ridge

Janie Dempsey Watts

Little Creek Books

When Avie returns home to Taylor’s Ridge, a small community near Ringgold, Georgia, to settle her father’s estate, she finds her childhood home thick with relatives and neighbors she remembers. Some are friends and others are decidedly not. Aunt Ardelia is spying on her and everyone else in the community. Her brother and half-sister have plans of their own for daddy’s estate and particularly the land. Her son, Joseph, seems to be stronger and handling his asthma better as her husband, a continent away in California, is distant and preoccupied with work. The storekeeper Xylia seems to be the only friendly face in the crowd.

Into this scenario steps Will, a new friend of Cherokee heritage, happy to befriend Avie and Joseph. As Xylia assists Joseph in his search for the legendary Cherokee silver mine on Taylor’s Ridge, Will provides insight into the culture of a people brutally removed from their homes and shipped to Oklahoma after gold was discovered at nearby Dahlonega. This culture is still an undercurrent in the Southeast, and Avie discovers just how significant it is to our country, its traditions, and her family. She faces a dilemma, as she confronts an unworkable present, an uncooperative family and a possible new romance. In the end, she finds the strength to face her fears, to fight for what she believes and to take brave steps into a brighter future.

The role of the moon, I leave for the reader to find in the pages of this book. Moon over Taylor’s Ridge is a riveting tale, through which Janie Dempsey Watts weaves the strands of interrelated narratives. Read this book today.