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Roots, Branches and Buzz Saws
![Roots, Branches and Buzz Saws: More Stories of August Kibler (The Life and Stories of August Kibler Book 2) by [T P Graf]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5198uCrPyyL.jpg)
The title of TP Graf’s book, Roots, Branches and Buzz Saws: More Stories of August Kibler immediately tells you that this isn’t the first introduction to August Kibler. It expands on his life as introduced in As Daisies Bloom. I don’t think it is necessary to have read the previous book to follow this book–and the author himself hopes that is the case.
Roots, Branches and Buzz Saws takes you back to the beginning of August’s life. It shares details of his ancestry, early years and takes you through his life, introducing you to the people he met along the way.
That Tyler discovers the story of August’s life by opening a file after his death made me think about what the story of my life would look like to other people. How would I present events that have happened to me over the years? Is everyone’s life worth reading? After reading this book, I say yes, we all have a story to tell. Here, the author makes it feel at times like we are taking a gentle meander through August’s life, but in fact it deals with some serious issues. We learn about August’s upbringing, how that shaped him, the abuse he faced, his faith and his thoughts on his faith. For me, this book reminded me that we all have our own story to tell and woven within our history we all have lessons to teach, each life is valuable. The characters we meet along the way are well rounded and memorable. I loved the way the author took me from Ohio to Indiana, to Louisiana and North Carolina. The descriptive writing brings the story to life. The book also reminds me that we shouldn’t take the simple things in life for granted, particularly if abuse and discrimination have touched your life just because of who you love. There were a few quotes in the book that stood out to me. My favorite is “Celebrate who you are, even if it is quietly…”. That is what this book is, a celebration of August’s life and a reminder to the reader to celebrate their life, who they are. What a message to impart to readers, and I hope others who read this take that message away with them.
Pages: 213 | ASIN: B08MCGXZ1M
Looking Out Onto Our World
Looking Out onto Our World is a compilation of largely introspective poems that takes us to T. P. Graf’s homeland along a spiritual journey across life’s most unexpected moments juxtaposed with more recent world events. T. P. Graf’s poems are alive with sensory experience, and refuse standard conventions of storytelling.
His verses are crowded and confident, bringing together sequences of characteristically long and winding poems, with shorter, punchier entries and brief narrative explanation. Each word in each verse is deliberate, as if arranged for maximum impact. There’s a heavy social critique to many of the poems, and a detached tone that describes “Predatory drones drone on night and day. Any vestige of dignity long removed. Eden obliterated by fire for profit.” And that sense is broadly on display in poem after poem.
Themes are revisited with similar language to explore a wide world of thought, but it’s hard to find the same sense of deep feeling in each. Though the book’s verse is not particularly complex, it is gripping and compelling, and will engage even the most reluctant poetry reader. The poems are accessible, relatable and without pretense, confronting their audience with what it means to look at our world, with all its agonizing complexity. The truths are surprising, but then, whose truths are they? The casualties’ of long wars on overseas soil, or our distant author’s? Is T. P. Graf true to his own voice and his own sense of what constitutes poetry, or do the verses transcend it?
Pages: 244 | ASIN: B08C5LN91L
August Kibler’s Stories for Tyler
![August Kibler's Stories for Tyler: Voices of Context from Eden to Patmos by [T P Graf]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/416H7O5MZWL.jpg)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to speak to someone from the bible or know their inner thoughts? August Kibler’s Stories for Tyler, takes you on that journey. Covering a plethora of different areas and people, including Isaac, Ben, Miriam, and Paul, this book explores the perspective of each person portrayed in the bible. T.P. Graf dives into stories that are less known and not as recognized as other stories in the bible.
The book’s premise is quite unique and the author has done a fantastic job incorporating his thoughts in his writing. There are many readers and people interested in the bible that would enjoy a book like this, and I found myself reading through it reasonably quickly. Graf’s writing style was something I enjoyed and I loved how the author constructed the book to feel like a book of poetry. This story is thought-provoking and evokes a positive emotional connotation.
The author also covers contemporary issues and topics that we still face today. The book offers fresh ideas that others might not have considered as well through stories like the eunuch. I found myself moving seamlessly from account to account without stopping. August Kibler’s Stories for Tyler is an absorbing Christian fiction novel that embraces classic literature to deliver a stimulating allegory of life.
Pages: 189 | ASIN: B08C5MC7YB
As the Daisies Bloom – Trailer
Was it a chance meeting in the Daisy Cafe that brought a father and his boys from Macon, Georgia, descendants of slaves, into the life of a descendent of Swiss Mennonites, or was it the mysterious workings of the father’s grandmother, Momma Daisy? August Kibler tells the stories of his own life and the lives of Tyler, Johnny, and Jimmy through the tragedy and grief, and the joy and gratitude, that each discovered along the way. The generous spirit they share is a gift to any seeking greater understanding when you believe you have little in common. Yet it is through sharing that August discovers a deep reverence for Momma Daisy and Pappy Jemison, and for the legacy of love and mettle that defined their lives. August challenges our certitudes as, in his own life, he says, “I would rather have doubts and be wrong than to be certainly wrong.” Tyler and August bear witness to what might appear to be ordinary lives, yet which both see as nothing less than extraordinary.
LITERARY TITAN 