Sweet, sweet, sweet.

3.5 stars

The Honey Month is a book to be savored, a book whose words, filled with longing and love, drip slowly from the page.It's such a unique book that I've been having trouble writing a review. I loved it, devoured it on the beach one afternoon, but it's difficult to describe. Each honey serves as the inspiration for a bewitching poem or short story, a world full of magic, of young women just learning about life, of bees and flowers, stings and kisses. Sad, hopeful, gorgeous. Pieces unrelated to each...

Stunning, erotic, inspiring. A honey month of my own is all I dream of now.

This was simply remarkable.The imagery that Amal El-Mohtar paints with her poetic prose and poetry is full of everyday wonders and fantastical mystery. This is just something very special and very unusual wrapped in a journal-like format, something that will leave you feeling warm, but also a little bit desolate. Some of my favourite quotes:"Only come to me, and be my love, for I am so alone, and there is no one to tend the hives with me, no one to tip the moon-water from my well, no one to hold...

Such an unusual book. I know I've never read anything like it and maybe never will again. Very sensuous in the telling and describing of the honey, using poetry, stories, self-made myths. It makes this reader want to taste them all, all 28 days of honey, though some definitely entice more than others.

I first became aware of this collection when a version of "Cranberry Honey" appeared during the Podcastle Flash Fiction contest last year. The writing blew me away, so when I saw Amal at Wiscon35, I got it. story/poem is based on a jar of honey Amal received as a gift sampler. Such a beautiful collection. The poems and stories in this need to be read slowly, aloud--but just under your breath--and preferably barefoot.

This is the most beautiful work of fiction I have read since I had the privilege to read Lisa L Hannett this year and I think this tiny book will stay with me for a long time. The Honey Month is inspired and inspiring. The writing is ethereal and sweet like a flake of a sugar crystal. The book is what art would translate to words and the short stories and poems in here will reform your soul.

So beautiful and flavorful and just deliciously synesthetic.

the speed at which i read this was the same consistency as honey, syrupy. i guess i wanted to savour each small description of the honeys and i was scared it would blend into one in my mind. now i want to try some of these :<

This year has been really hard on me. I know it has been hard on so many people and I feel weak for admitting it. I’ve known I’ve been struggling with depression for some time ( I know I’m depressed when inexplicably it becomes extremely difficult for me to read novels.). I feel as if the last two weeks have almost broken me. I’m a nurse and a career that I have loved for over thirty years is turning to dust and ashes. I feel as if I shouldn’t complain, when other caregivers have had it so much

A really wonderful book that deserves to be owned, read, and re-read during those depressing days when one needs some beautiful words and colorful imagery to wake up the senses. Each of these vignettes is uniquely yummy and sensual and amazing. I love El-Mohtar's writing style and hope she continues to publish, as there are few authors who can conjure up such deep emotional resonance in such short and concise snatches of prose.

This is a delightful little book, quite remarkable. It is based on a very simple idea and on a simple gift. A friend of El-Mohtar’s gave her a gift of some samples of different types of honey. With this gift she wrote a set of tasting notes and reflections for each honey; 28 in all. El-Mohtar is a poet and writer of speculative fiction and she puts her talent to good use. This is an example of one of the tasting notes:“Day 10 – French Rhododendron HoneyColour: The colour of sugar dissolving in h...

3.5This is one book where I think it helps to have read the blurb before reading. I didn’t, and found myself quite lost for some time. It turns out that the book was inspired by a gift of honey samples; each section is a riff on a different flavour, and I think it really does help to know that at the beginning, because the book consists of lyrical, sensuous writing with little or no narrative, more like a collection of poems with a related theme than anything else. I love gorgeous writing - I of...

A lovely collection of poetry, prose-poetry and microfiction, all inspired by different types of honey. I could practically taste each honey as it was described; experience it as the stories and poems and scraps of myth unfolded. It's a very sensuous and beautiful collection, and for all that it's so slight, it's very worth reading.

This is a book worthy of worship, and I encourage you to enjoy its succour in small doses of devotion, one honey at a time. My full review is over at: http://art-ungulate.livejournal.com/4...

I might be a part-time vegan, but I need some of this honey. Particularly the peach honey. The stories and poems in this collection are short, creative, and lovely. I hope to read more by El-Mohtar.

I was so delighted by This is How You Lose the Time War I simply had to get my hands on more writing from Amal El-Mohtar, hence me snapping up this book and starting it straight away despite a looming TBR pile. This is an interesting little writing exercise, part poetry and part flash fiction. El-Mohtar samples a different honey every day and then writes an accompanying piece. Offerings range widely in form and style, but all are exceptionally well crafted. Many of the pieces flirt with magical

Shows how beautiful prose and poetry can be if you let yourself be inspired by the different senses, taste and smell specifically in this case.Atmospheric, fantastic, whimsical, sensual, poetic.My main gripe would be that at some points the stories and poems blend together a bit, but it's a short read, so it does not get boring. I'll definitely keep an eye out for further work of Amal El-Mohtar. And I don't even particularly like honey.

is this a honey taste-test? or is this just an intensely spellbinding novella? I’ve never liked honey, and I probably only tried it once in my life. well, this novel made me lick it off my lips with relish. this is such a sensuous and creative way of describing honey, engaging the five senses, forming a captivatingly sweet short story!