I really enjoy reading poetry since it is an opportunity to think and reflect, the way the sentence flows always makes me feel joyous and the carefully chosen words make it a work of art that never fails to brighten my day. It’s also a good way for me to reach my goal of 24 books this year. Not a very big goal, since I felt unmotivated due to my reading slump that hit in the middle of last year but I’m back and feeling more better!

Often I see my book blog buddies having a little introduction part to their book review. I’ve been trying to adopt that if you can’t tell. I’m also considering changing some things about the blog, maybe even making a new logo for myself since I’m studying a design course and wanted a more unique one.

Lines by Leon
by Leon Stevens

get it here

BOOK SUMMARY
Lines by Leon is a selection of poems, prose, and short stories that address the subjects of loss, struggle, and reflection. Inside these thoughtful contemplations are original observations about ego, behaviour, human relations, places, and the environment. Many of the pieces feature a lighthearted and even humorous take on a subject, and the author invites his readers to laugh, think, cry, and meditate on the wide variety of thoughts.
Scattered throughout the book are sketches of various subjects, many that relate to the poems and stories they illustrate; others speak for themselves.

BOOK REVIEW
*A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

3 STARS

I enjoyed the illustrations that Stevens made. It was enjoyable to see and it makes it the story feel a bit more personal since the author made the illustration himself.

The poems are split into 11 sections, possibly the most I’ve seen so far in my very few years of reading poetry. Poems about human behaviour, the environment, struggles and a short story. It was a very quick read.

My favourite has to be the whole of People and Places. I believed that it was because most of the places mentioned and poems were about things that I knew, and perhaps if I didn’t, I may not have enjoyed it that much. Some other poems that I really enjoyed were Cycle, The Tendency to Cluster, Ego (Part IV), If (The Refugee). These were poems that I related to and some that I felt were artistically written.

I would describe this book as balanced. There were some poems that I thought were amazing and there was a handful that I really loved, however, there were also some that I didn’t enjoy reading. This poetry collection contains many observations, I guess I prefer poems that invoke deeper feelings, more intense and causes me to think more. It’s my personal preference and not many may feel the same.

From a design perspective, the cover is simple and stunning. The watercolour paper texture – absolutely brilliant! However the font for the text may not be the best font for this book, though the intention may be to have a handwriting sort of font, I believe there were probably better fonts out there that suited this book more. Some of the sketches were a little too light when compared to the text, and it may be difficult to see. I believe it shouldn’t be so since the drawings were beautifully drawn.

Overall, I have neutral feelings about this poetry collection. Not many poems stood out to me but it still was a pleasant read and the drawings were such a great complement to the poems. Perhaps it just wasn’t for me.