it was never going to be okay

The biannual (ish) poetry collection time has come again. I had never heard of this one before and chose it randomly from the poetry available at the library one day while I was shelving. That’s the danger of shelving time – it gives me the time to look through sections of the library with great…

Life on Mars

Enter my like, twice-annual, foray into poetry. Still not a form I'm really comfortable with or feel particularly confident reading and understanding and reviewing. But, you know, personal growth and whatnot. I ran across Tracy K. Smith's name in a bookish article somewhere and took a peek at my library to see if we had…

Homie

This collection, and Smith's poetry in general, were put on my radar by @booksteahenny. I don't read a lot of poetry, as you know, so I added this to the list for the next time I was in the mood for it. And then, after a suggestion from @lifeofgabriellejane after I posted about the last collection I read…

Other Words for Home

I picked this one up as part of my low-key attempt at the 2021 Reading Women Challenge. To be honest, middle grade is just not my reading sweet spot, but an occasional foray into it usually doesn't go awry. I'd seen this one around a few times and I do love the cover, so when I saw one…

Citizen: An American Lyric

I’ve known Claudia Rankine’s name for years but, as a not reader of poetry, it’s always been a sort of back burner name for me. But every once in a while, I do decide to try some poetry (and have enjoyed collections from Joy Harjo and Jericho Brown, though I’d by no means consider myself…

Minor Feelings

I've had this one on my TBR since it came out last year, so I'm excited to finally have gotten to it. I don't really have a lot else to say in this little intro. I had both the audiobook and physical book from the library, which I am realizing more and more that I really…

A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing

This isn’t a book that I’ve seen around or reviewed often. In fact, I had to request my library purchase it since they didn’t already have a copy when I went looking to borrow it. So, I had to wait for it to be bought and delivered before, excitingly, being the first person to borrow…

Brown Girl Dreaming

I know I don’t usually read children’s/middle grade books, and Woodson has written “adult” books, so I’m not really sure what made me feel like this needed to be the first one by her that I read. But there was definitely a reason, because I bought this a year or so ago and have had…

The Tradition

I don’t read a lot of poetry. I never really have. And though I’ve picked up and loved a few collections over my years on this blog (notably: If They Come for Us and Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings), I haven’t really been what I would consider “converted” to the art form. However, as is…

Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems

I picked up this collection of poetry in honor of Native American Heritage Month. There are so many ways to read diversely, and I try to vary them, but it’s difficult. So using these “official” recognition months as a guide throughout the year is very helpful for me. Plus, this was the theme for November…