What I'm Reading...
Barley Child by Greg Rappleye
I'm sharing this collection of poems for both abovementioned reasons. I'm inspired by the author on a personal level, and it's a compelling read.
A sojourn in the Irish American experience, this collection is genealogy and Americana soaked in human frailty and dysfunction, tinged with a bit of wry humor. It is a portrait of the generational grief and bounty we all claim, regardless of lineage.
I met Greg in his prior life as an attorney and watched him follow his writer’s heart to become an award winning poet. Barley Child is Greg’s fifth collection and the 2025 Miller Williams Poetry Prize winner. Writing journeys like Greg’s are fuel for the aspiring author.
Barley Child is now available on Amazon and other outlets where great books are found. It is also available locally at The Bookman in Grand Haven, Michigan where Greg will hold a reading on April 24.
Reflections at Eighty: Memoir, Essays, Poems, and Dreams by Henk Ottens
Dutch immigrant, physician, lifetime learner, and my friend, Henk Ottens has a “joie de vivre” like none other. A great expression of it all is his recent autobiographical compilation. A journal of life, Reflections illustrates the adventure that can be found in everyday activity and events, complexity in simplicity. It is a chronicle of one man’s odyssey laced with honesty, love, and humor. This collection should encourage us all to write it down, to make note of what we have and what has happened. Reflections at Eighty can be found at The Bookman in Grand Haven, Michigan.
