Trees sway up above, Spinning sunlight through leaf shade; Words woven belowA birthday haiku is becoming a tradition for BookLoons, and this one was inspired by the pleasure of reading in a new hammock in the woods this summer. I've found that haiku can easily become addictive. If you're inclined to give it a go yourself, have a look at Haiku for People for instructions on how to write it and some excellent examples, both classical and modern. Once you've mastered the form, you might want to enter the results in a couple of ongoing Haiku Contests run by Poetry.com and USA Today.
This is the second birthday for BookLoons, which was launched in November 2000 (see On Books and Loons & BookLoons Birthday). Thanks (in reverse alphabetical order this year) to Wesley Williamson, Mary Ann Smyth, Sally Selvadurai, Marian Powell, David Pitt, Angela Landreth, Theresa Ichino, Anise Hollingshead, G. Hall and Martina Bexte for close to fifteen hundred reviews and eighty columns since we started; and to my husband Serge Fournier for continuing help with site infrastructure.
We all look forward to the wonderful selection of review copies sent by both publishers and individual authors. A special thank you to the folk at Time Warner Bookmark for also making books available for regular contests. And a hundred thousand welcomes to those of you who have become regulars. It was exciting just this week to realize that we have over a thousand unique visitors a day, from all around the world. I hope that we continue to post material that interests you! And to the individuals who have used our links to order books online - it is greatly appreciated as the affiliate fees do help with hosting costs.
As we enter a season of hope and holidays once more, it is hard to avoid dwelling on all the terrible things that have been happening around the world. Looking back on this time last year, it is all too easy to feel frustration about progress against terrorism. Doing so reminded me of my own teens when the Damocles sword of the bomb hung over us all, and of a poem that I quoted in a high school graduation speech, Say not the Struggle Nought Availeth by Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861). I found it comforting then, and offer the same hope to you now:
And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward look! the land is bright.
Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.
