Poetry of the Stars

Happy New Year!

I missed y’all over the holidays, but I hope you had a little more time for reading. Like pretty much everyone, I try to make resolutions, but they’re a little tricky to actually follow through on… this year, I’m resolving to read “more non-fiction,” I’m using the quotes because I’m not sure how much more I actually want to read and at that, I tend to gravitate more toward memoirs than anything else.

Lastly, the quotes are necessary because this first “non-fiction” book might seem like it isn’t true non-fiction…stay with me! I just finished Astro Poets: Your Guide to the Zodiac by Alex Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky. I know that many view astrology as some sort of hocus pocus, but who hasn’t read their horoscope at least once? (I promise I found the book in my library’s non-fiction section!)

I also am excited to announce that I’ve started doing some video-vlog-reviews! You can check today’s out here. Now onto the blog!

I loved this book mostly due to its organization, but also its voice. It begins with an introduction, giving credibility to the authors but also giving a brief, yet broad description to how the zodiac works–what sun and moon signs are, their elements, their ruling planets, etc. Then each sign’s chapter is broken into different sections: generalities, the sign as a lover, as a friend, their style, how the sign texts people, their imagination (I loved this part a ton! Turns out that Sagittarius is Las Vegas and if it were a punctuation mark, it’d be a dash), famous people in that sign, and even a poem!

The twelve sign chapters are distributed between the two authors–each having six–and their voices are pretty clear while reading. They’re snarky and share anecdotes about their interactions with other people of that sign. This all makes astrology seem a little less mysterious and ethereal, which I think makes the book a little more legit. Then again, I can totally see where someone might argue that anecdotal evidence isn’t fair…but I disagree. We relate to each other as people through our anecdotes, they deserve recognition!

This is really just a book you have to read to get a fuller understanding of it. If you’re into astrology, I think it would serve as a decent reference guide, especially since it’s a little more in depth than a Cosmo article breaking down the signs. If you’re not into astrology, or you’re curious, I think it has the potential to make it a little less daunting and other worldly.

That’s I’ll I’ve got for now, but I’m so glad to be back! As always, you can send me recommendations for books here, and I’ll try to work them into my lineup. Fair warning, next week I’ll be reviewing Naja Marie Aidt’s (really sad and emotional) memoir When Death Takes Something From You Give it Back: Carl’s Book. So if you’ve had a really emotionally trying time, you might not want to read this book/blog right away…but her raw emotion might also really help!

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