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2025 Reading Challenge

2025

READING

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Anna has read 138 books of their goal of 125!

110%

Anna Kander

Goodreads Author

Website

http://annakander.com

Twitter

annakander

Genre

Poetry, Fiction

Member Since

March 2017

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/anna_kander

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Lately, I mostly I read romance, children's books, and other fiction. I also read nonfiction, often about writing or mental health. Past loves include urban fantasy, comic strip collections, and Stephen King. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Wow, I love the title, it's lovely. Any way we can get an excerpt or blurb?

Anna Kander Sure! Here's "Natural Light," the first poem in the collection, and "The Sound of Metal," which was later nominated for a Pushcart Prize...

NATURAL LIG…moreSure! Here's "Natural Light," the first poem in the collection, and "The Sound of Metal," which was later nominated for a Pushcart Prize...

NATURAL LIGHT

The desire to be seen
transforms me.

Slide a mirror to me
under the door,
here in this dark room,
and I will find a way
to flash semaphores.

*

THE SOUND OF METAL

love your brothers and sisters, momma said
carry us like a song in your heart

in high school, i whispered gossip to mean girls
and, on alternate Tuesdays, tried not to drown

in labels
and expectations

and a labyrinth of dented lockers
that made hollow sounds

when bodies and metal collided
for the thousandth occasion

at the same high school
at the same time

my brother was molested

we didn’t learn what happened ’til years later
after he stopped coming home

on a field trip with an overnight bus ride
two rich boys—also brothers
pinned him in the corner of the high, stiff seat
used some sort of hard implement

one of them held a knife
it scraped the metal frame around the window

screeching metal around a black night
swallowing all those stars

anyway, that’s what I heard
third-hand, from our mother

or fourth- or fifth-hand, if i am counting
the rich brothers

in English, there are at least nineteen words
to describe the sounds of metal

clang, ding, clatter, clunk, clash
drum, echo, jangle, rattle, rasp

jingle, gong, plink, tinkle
crash

wood blocks make dull thumps

strike metal and it sings
releasing sounds sharp like weapons
for avenging

the energy of struck metal dissipates slowly
scientists say that’s because metal is “elastic”
i’d say metal remembers

the oscillations of metal decay—yet linger
my brother went silent; the metal still screams

every autumn, as purple and gold leaves fall
from the copper beech and sugar maples

my brothers and sisters who can travel
return to our hometown

migrating back to the place of our birth, like salmon
until we are someone’s dinner

we will clink forks and knives on the good china
and enjoy a ritual meal

we had all our friends in common
and I’ll see them around town

when I run to the drugstore for shampoo and chocolates
pieces of home that I forgot to bring

tokens of appreciation that somehow slip my mind
every single goddamn year

your friends from high school will ask me about you again
and I’ll say no, he won't be coming home

no, he won’t be here
for thanksgiving

*

And, here's the book blurb...

While training as a psychotherapist, a young woman recovering from anxiety is called to counsel a girl who's attempted suicide. Each must find a way to carry herself forward...

Slide a Mirror to Me is the debut poetry collection by Anna Kander, a Pushcart Prize-nominated author who previously trained as a psychotherapist. Kander weaves poems and stories into a loose narrative with villains, heroes, and hope.

Heather Kinnane, author of Faery Dream, calls the book "heartbreaking in places, and beautiful."(less)

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Hi. Congratulations on your book SLIDE A MIRROR TO ME. Where can I buy it? Also, let me say that I really liked your work "The Man with the Broken Heart."

Anna Kander Thank you, José! SLIDE A MIRROR TO ME is not yet available to buy. As soon as I have the release date, I will share it! Last week, I got to see the fi…moreThank you, José! SLIDE A MIRROR TO ME is not yet available to buy. As soon as I have the release date, I will share it! Last week, I got to see the first proof of the interior layout, and this week, I got to see possible covers. I'll keep you posted...(less)

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Anna Kander’s books

Average rating: 5.0 · 3 ratings · 1 review · 3 distinct works

	Dear Reader by Janet Kuypers (Goodreads Author) (Editor, Publisher), Adam Kluger, Allan Onik it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Harbinger Asylum: Fall 2017 it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Slide a Mirror to Me 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Anna Kander's Blog

“The Sound of Metal” has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize

Thank you so much to Weasel Press for nominating my poem, “The Sound of Metal,” for the Pushcart Prize. The poem, first published in Degenerates: Voices for Peace, appears in Slide a Mirror to Me (Transcendent Zero Press, 2017).

Anna is Currently Reading

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Bring the House Down

by Charlotte Runcie (Goodreads Author)

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The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)

by Robert Galbraith

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Anna is currently reading

The Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike, #8)

by Robert Galbraith

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Dec 03, 2025 09:16AM

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Quotes by Anna Kander (?)

“Don't bring a loving family to a broken one. It's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.”
― Anna Kander

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Anna’s Quotes

“I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.”
― Toni Morrison

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Anna’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-8) post a comment »

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message 8: by A.J.

Sep 11, 2017 03:01PM

Thanks for asking to be my friend!

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message 7: by Anna

Sep 03, 2017 05:12PM

*waves back* :-)

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message 6: by Elle

Sep 03, 2017 06:03AM

*waves* :D

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message 5: by Anna

Aug 25, 2017 11:33AM

V.A. wrote: "Hi Anna,
Thanks for the friends request. Love your page."

Thanks so much, V.A. (Sorry for the late reply--am learning my way around the Goodreads desktop version vs. the app!)

Also... hello, all! :-) *waves back*

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message 4: by Elle (last edited Aug 04, 2017 10:49AM)

Aug 04, 2017 10:28AM

Hi, Anna! Thank you for your friend request! :)

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message 3: by Rick

Jul 25, 2017 10:05AM