In mid-January I went to a poetry reading in Detroit, MI. It had been a long time since I had been to any sort of reading. I first learned of the event when my sister messaged me that August Smith would be in Michigan as part of a two day reading tour. I know August through my sister. They went to college together and were part of the Kalamazoo poetry scene. I have some of his early chapbooks, handmade bound with twine, but I’d never seen him do a reading before. It had been

Last year I renewed my domain name for Indie Book Blog and realized I was paying a lot of money to run a website I wasn’t using as much as I had planned to. It doesn't help that I can't seem to setup my email for this site on my phone. I apologize to anyone who has sent me an email and got no response. I turned 40 in 2025 and am trying to live life more intentionally. There are so many distractions these days: tv, podcasts, socializing, our phones, day jobs. Even though

When Andy Mullenax asked me to review his book of poetry: The Destroyer , I didn’t quite know what to expect. I first read some of his poems posted on his IG account to get an idea of what I was getting into. I liked the lyrical nature of his style and this collection. It reminded me of a lot of modern day rap songs. He did warn me that the poems get pretty dark, exploring themes from his own addiction journey. Alas, I am no stranger to reading work of a dark and transgr

I never know where the next book I’ll read will come from. My bookshelves are overflowing and I like to think that I’ll eventually make...