I’m not a subscriber of the Oprah Magazine but on occasion I’ll check it out when I’m at the bookstore. In particular, I’m a fan of the Reading Room section. I like to see what others have on their reading lists. Anyway, I’m really glad I picked up this latest issue because there’s an article on Sandra Cisneros and I’ve found out she has a new book in the works. Yay.
Have you read her novels? My favorite is Caramelo. I’m also quite a fan of her poetry and so I thought I’d share one of the poems I like quite a bit. This is from her book Loose Woman.
Champagne Poem for La Rosie
The first glass will make you laugh.
The second will have you making others laugh.
The third is for singing operettas.
The fourth to give you wings.
The fifth will have you forget
the things you chose to remember
and remember things you chose to forget.
The sixth is for courage when dialing Him.
The seventh to bring down cuss and concupiscence.
Congratulations. The eighth will drive you to bed or brawl.
Or to brawl in bed. Same difference.
Her poems are sexy, filled with attitude and manage to be bold and tender all at once. So hope you’ll check some of her poetry out if you haven’t yet.
So, what magazine have you read lately and has it led you to some new authors or books?
I’m not a fan of Oprah…I try to avoid her book club selections and her mag. I know that’s not nice, its just a matter of principle! I do subscribe to Entertainment Weekly and have high regard for their book reviews. Before I started blogging, this was how I maintained The List. They are usually spot on.
I’ve always liked the book reviews in Elle magazine but I haven’t read it in awhile. I don’t mind Oprah – I just don’t seek her out.
I will read the book sections in O magazine, but that is about the extent. Generally I am not much of a magazine person.
I’ve read one of Cinsero’s books, her first one I think it was. Enjoyed it very much so don’t know why I haven’t read any others especially since she is local. I had no idea she wrote poetry either.
I do like the poem! I’m trying to read more poetry this year, too, but mostly re-reading the poems I love.
Sandy – Her book club selections are usually such downers too aren’t they? I don’t think I’ve ever checked out EW’s book reviews. I will hav eto check those out!
Care – Ah, another magazine I never read. And, yea, I don’t usually seek out Oprah mag either. I much prefer Bust or Bitch 🙂
Kailana – I love magazines but have cut back a lot lately on my subscriptions. Granted I’ve never subscribed to Oprah just read the book stuff while looking around in the bookstore but shhh, don’t tell 😉
Stefanie – I think I’ve read all of her books and have really enjoyed them all. I highly recommend checking out her poetry. I was lucky enough to meet her at a book signing one time and got one of my poetry books signed. I was on cloud 9 🙂
jenclair – yay, glad you enjoyed it. I’m with you, I do a lot of re-reading of poems I like. I’m trying to branch out a bit more though. I feel like I must be missing out on a lot of wonderful poets out there.
I think the Oprah book club is the worst. However, I love those few pages in her magazine and I read them every month and put the mag back and leave the bookstore happy. I love the featured famous peep’s listing their 5 most influencial books. I really love that one page immensely.
I’ve been meaning to read Sandra Cisneros for a long time, but she’s one of those authors whose name leaves my head until someone mentions her. I’m going to write myself a note…
I’ve found some good things through Poets & Writers magazine, through ads or articles. Mostly, though, I’ve been finding the best things on blogs!
Bold and tender…I like that!
I haven’t actually picked up a magazine in ages. There are a few bookish ones that are published here, but I haven’t checked them out yet.
I havent read any magazines lately that have led me to new books. But I do like to see what Oprah has on her reading selection. I’ve found a few fav authors through her. Like Toni Morrison and Wally Lamb.Though sadly, lately her selections have been really bad. I’ll have to check out Sandra Cisneros. Great poem!
These days, I mostly rely on bookbloggers’ recommendations and RT Book Reviews for my reading. My RTBR subscription is about to expire soon and I wonder if I should explore other bookish mags such as Bookmarks or any of the others… It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading RT, it’s just that I thought I should expand my mag reading horizons, hehe…
I read a book of short stories by Sandra Cisneros years ago. I’m so glad to hear she is still writing. The last magazine I read was Entertainment Weekly. I can’t say I got any good book recommendations out of it, but I did out of the magazine I read before it, Bookmarks.
I hope you have a great week, Iliana!
I think the only magazine I’ve looked at lately is the Handy Man that I ordered for my husband for a Christmas present. He accuses me of getting it for myself! I used to subscribe to Oprah but then I cut back on my magazine subscriptions. I’m going to check out Oprah’s web page, maybe she has a Reading Room feature.
The Reading Room section is my favorite part of O Magazine also – which I still receive (gift from my mother) but read sporadically. (I haven’t read an Oprah Book Club pick for ages, though.) That Sandra Cisneros poem is great. I’m reading “The Best American Poetry 2008” and most of the selections seem to be … well, a bit over my head. I’ll have to give her a try.
I like the Oprah Magazine which helps women being more independant and being more informed. The Reading Room is also the first page I turn to. I enjoy the bookmatching that happens there with famous people. Sometimes I am happily surprise by some of the choices presented. My favorite magazine is Parabola which is published four times a year, each issue reflects a theme and then gives a spiritual look of how people of different religions, different beliefs think about the theme. There is stories, legends, interviews, poems, illustrations, myths… Last winter issue’s theme was “Justice”. A subject that came just at the right time in my life. I found some really interesting articles that opened my mind to new ways of looking at the problems that I was facing and wanted better understanding, also acceptance. Thank you for the poem. I had to copy it to my own blog entry as I have some girlfriends that enjoy Champagne as much as I do and shared few bottles together over the years. I hope you don’t mind. I also elaborated on the Oprah Bookclub and why women have such a problem with it. Anyway thank you again for your most inspiring blog.
Kristy – I love the “influential” books part too! I always think I’ll find a celebrity that I share a reading list with 🙂 I have liked some Oprah reads but it’s really been a long time since I’ve even checked what her book club was reading.
priscilla – I know that happens to me with a lot of authors too! I like to check out P&W occasionally too and I love their ads. I often think I’ll go on some writing retreat somewhere 🙂
Nymeth – If you’ve never read any Sandra Cisneros I bet you’d like her. She’s really very good. I read way too many magazines although lately some of my subscriptions have run out and I haven’t been renewing.
bookworm – Really? I used to keep track of some of her reading selections – way back – but just haven’t kept up. I think I was always a bit “jealous” that I had discovered Stones from the River and had told my friends about it but it wasn’t until Oprah mentioned it that the book became huge! 🙂
Melody – Me too. I love seeing what all my book blog friends are reading. That’s really where most of my suggestions come from. You know, I have read RT before because even though I don’t read romance they do mystery reviews! And, I think they’re even doing graphic novels now. Very cool!
Literary Feline – I think she’s a writer that people might “forget” about in a way because she’s not very prolific. It seems like it takes her a long time between books. I’m really curious to see what this new one will be like!
booklogged – ha,ha… I steal some of my husband’s magazines too 🙂 and, yes I do think you can see some of the reading stuff on Oprah’s site!
Betty & Boo’s Mommy – Oh, thank you for mentioning the Best American Poetry series. I haven’t seen it but I’ll have to remember to look for it as I’m on a quest to read more contemporary poets!
Roxane Stoner – Great seeing you! I agree about the choices some of the people talk about. I love reading why it’s important to them. It reminds you that we all form very personal attachments to books. I have only seen Parabola but don’t think I’ve really picked it up. I’m intrigued though so next time I go to the bookstore I’ll try to remember to look for it. And, glad to hear you enjoyed Sandra’s poem. It’s getting late now and I need to get some rest but I promise to drop in soon and see what you’ve written up. Definitely want to read that! 🙂
I love Sandra Cisneros! I read Caramelo, I loved it. I have the hardcover, and the art work on it is amazing. And Woman Hollering Creek? Gets me every time.
I don’t care for Oprah but I do love The Reading Room section of O magazine. You can find out about so many new authors and books coming out while learning about a person’s five favorite books (“Books that made a difference to. . .”) I love Sandra Cisneros. I’ve read all of her books except Carmelo. I’m going to have to buy that issue just for her.
I don’t care about Oprah either, yet I catch myself picking up her magazine in the grocery store ONLY to see what books are out there that I may have missed and from there I decide whether to read it or not. Her opinions don’t govern my taste in books.
I’m pretty sure I read this author in college but I can’t remember the title! The poem you shared is wonderful! I loved it — makes me want to read more of her stuff.
I don’t “do” Oprah but I love what she does for reading and books in general!
Jessica – I could so relate to some of the family stuff in Caramelo. Like when she talked about the long drives to Mexico. Really loved that book. I don’t remember Woman Hollering Creek too much so maybe I should re-read that!
Vasilly – Oh I hope you’ll enjoy Caramelo when you get to it. It’s such a great story and so nice to see her doing a longer length book. She definitely has the talent.
Denise – Yea, I enjoy the books section most of all but find that I can’t relate to most of the magazine. Plus I always laugh at the gift guide section or whatever it’s called. Too expensive. I just want books and some money for travels 🙂
Jenners – I wonder if you might have read House on Mango Street as that’s her most famous book and required reading I believe for a lot of schools. She’s great isn’t she. And, yep, I do like that about Oprah!
I love that poem. I”ll have to remember Sandra Cisneros; one of my (very loose, as it may be put off until the fall) goals is to read more poetry. I realized that I often skip a poem if it’s part of a book … skim thru it instead of really reading it.
Thanks for sharing … I can’t imagine 7 glasses of champagne; I wouldn’t have the energy to brawl (in bed or elsewhere!)
Thanks for sharing the poem. I don’t watch Oprah or read her magazine. I’ve enjoyed a few of the books she picked for her book club, but I didn’t pick them up because she touted them. I don’t have anything against Oprah, I just don’t go out of my way to follow her.
Dawn – Yea, I’d hate to see me after 7 glasses of champagne. Two would be bad enough 🙂 I am trying to read more poetry this year too. So far I’m doing a good job but you know how it goes. Hope I don’t get too sidetracked 🙂
Anna – Yep, I know what you mean. I sometimes flip through her magazine and she does have some good articles here and there but I guess on the whole I just don’t “relate” to her and that’s my problem.