I always love when Isabelle Kenyon reaches out to me about book tours! This week, I read All Island No Sea by Chris Campbell!
This is a very short chapbook that’s chockfull of the feels–it’s nostalgic, romantic, and just all around thoughtful. Its cover describes it as being about “identity, moving, and the healing power of nature.” I’d definitely agree with that, especially with regard to identity and moving.
There seem to be a number of poems exploring concepts like relationships and new beginnings. Parenthood seemed to be another theme explored in a number of his poems. Because of this focus on relationships, there’s this real sense of love and connection underlying many of the poems.
And sometimes, especially if the poem seems to be about a relationship with a grandparent or a memory from childhood, the sense of nostalgia is real.
But what I perhaps liked most about the collection is that Campbell is a great poet when it comes to imagery. There were so many moments where you could so clearly see what was being described, the level of detail is simply phenomenal.
In addition to the detail being great, I really enjoyed how Campbell took pedestrian situations–from being at odds with the neighbor’s dog to eating melon with your grandpa–and turning it into something beautiful and impactful.
There are so many great poems in this collection, it’s hard to pick just one (or even a few) to tell y’all about. I definitely think that this is a collection that can appeal to most readers, and I’m so glad that I was able to take part in this tour!
I’ve made the decision to downshift to only posting reviews every other week, so that’s all I’ve got for now and I haven’t yet picked a book for the next week, so catcha then!
Happy Reading!
A Little Bit of Happiness 