Book Review--Musings and Ravings From a Pandemic Year

Marlene Cullen is the editor of seven anthologies that are filled with essays written by many writers using a prompt to initiate their writing. The seventh, and newest, is titled Musings and Ravings From a Pandemic Year. 

The poetry and prose illustrate the many ways we have lived through 2020, the first year of our current pandemic. Each of the many writers approaches the situation in a different and personal manner. Some use humor while others are quite serious about the way the pandemic affected them. 

At times, a few of the pieces feel like they are veering off-subject, but the pandemic still figures in before the reader finishes. The pandemic invokes memories for many of us as some of the contributors in this anthology show us.

There is a writing prompt at the end of each prose offering. I found myself nodding my head in agreement at some of them because the writer had nailed that prompt very well. The stories ranged from surviving to wearing masks to remembering things from long ago 

One notable difference in this anthology is that many of the writers have more than one story that meets the theme requirements. I loved that because it showed how one writer can use different approaches for the same general topic. 

Ms. Cullen, the editor, posed a question to each writer, and the answers are included. Her question was: What energizes you? The answers are widely varied and definitely of interest. 

This is a book that you might read more than once to mark the ways in which others have handled this adverse time in our lives. The pandemic is not over, and any help we can get in living with the fallout is worth checking more than once. 

I like the antithesis of the tile. Musings and ravings do mirror what the reader will find inside. I have had times during the pandemic, especially during the lockdown time last year when I did some musing and other times when I ranted and raved. I have a feeling many of us did the same. So kudos to Ms. Cullen for the title she selected. 

Use a search engine to find several places where you can order this new anthology.