The Reading Jackalope

I so loved Amal El-Mohtar's story in The Starlit Woods that I went searching for other books by her. Sadly, it seems that most of her writing is in the form of short stories for various anthologies, however there was this collection of poems and short stories. I picked it up, and it's quite good. I enjoyed the short stories a bit more then the poetry, but I'm a bit out of practice with poetry.

El-Mohtar was given a sampling of honey and she spread the tastes out over a month. With each taste of honey, she wrote a story or poem. The stories and poems are influenced by the tastes and descriptions, and it was interesting to see the connection between the stores and honey. Each day starts with a description of the honey, from the color to the smell to the taste. While it might be tempting to skip over this more dry part of the book, don't. Each of these descriptions informs somehow the pieces that follow.

From Day 13 - Black Locust Blossom Honey

I did not seek a god

to make me mumble like a clod
as sweet within my mouth went sour.
When first I came to the land of Nod
I did not seek a god.

Other standouts I enjoyed are Day 15 - Hungarian Forest Honey and Day 1 - Fireweed Honey. I bought this on my kindle, but I'm thinking about getting this in physical form. I want to be able to flip through it and skip from day to day. I don't think there is a particular theme, aside from honey, in the collection and so each story is very different from the last.