book reviews
Reviews of the best poetry books, collections and anthologies; discover poems and up-and-coming poets across all cultures, genres and themes.
Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
Hey guys, my name is Rehana. I hope you're good I don't read the self-help genre very often, but this book has been obtaining tons of buzz and I wanted to give it a try and that is The Subtle Art of not giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.
By Rehana Khatoon3 years ago in Poets
Book Review #1
“I and my Annabel Lee” THE INSPIRATION If you know me, then you know that I’m a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, he's not the only writer I love, but he's definitely on my top 10 list. And out of all of his works, the poem Annabel Lee is my #1 favorite.
By Jessie Phoenix Sky3 years ago in Poets
Book Review: "The Fall of the House of Byron" by Emily Brand
Lord Byron is one of my favourite authors ever and is actually my favourite poet. I have spent years pouring over Byron's poetry ever since I was thirteen and discovered the "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". When I was twenty years' old, I got to see a handwritten letter by Lord Byron and famously burst into tears in front of my friends. One of the most beautiful things I have witnessed to date and honestly, I would not trade it for the world. Lord Byron was a miraculous human being, capable of great achievements. He died whilst in Greece, fighting for the country's independence and living out the heroism he had always written about once again. But George Gordon, the 6th Baron Byron, better known as the poet Lord Byron - was the 6th in his lineage, so there were some that came before him. As we look into this well-researched book by Emily Brand, we get to see the extent of the family that is, in my opinion after reading the book, 'mad, bad and dangerous to know...'
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Poets
Review: Depression & Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim
Sabrina Benaim is a 31-year-old, Canadian poet who emphasized her voice in the world when her literal voice was threatened by a tumor in her throat. This medical complication highlighted the importance of what she wanted to say to the world. Following this issue, Benaim has used writing and spoken word poetry as a way to maneuver it, as well as her anxiety and depression.
By Jaci Schreckengost3 years ago in Poets
I Feel Like Crying, But for Good Reasons
Crying, crying, crying over you. Just another poem of the times. I feel like crying, I said, I feel like crying… And you ask me whying? Well, I can’t be lying. It’s my people, it is for my people that I’m a-crying. I would have looked, and that’s when I was to see. I saw them there, across from me. Wearing a frown, where there should have been a tear. And yet more tearing down of the gear, of the gown, the garments even.
By E. Lloyd K4 years ago in Poets
The Carrying by Ada Limón Review
Ada Limón’s poetry collection The Carrying is a roadmap book for me and the poetry I want to write. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2018, The Carrying shows that the personal, hyper-specific details of our lives can be portals into a shared, communal experience. Limón is a master of atmosphere and mood, and her colloquial poems center on mundane and common events in her life, while expanding into larger questions and concerns about being human. Many of the poems in this collection wrestle with Limón’s struggles with infertility, a subject that hasn’t much been explored in this medium. While crafting poems about this intimate, personal subject, Limón also captures the pervasive feeling in our culture at this moment, the dread of what’s happening to our planet, the concern about our collective future, and the fear that our culture has grown more destructive than creative. In the poem “Trying,” Limón opens with the image of her trellising tomatoes while her husband paints the basement, and she shouts to him, “I’d forgotten how much/I like to grow things” (9). She goes on to write
By Kira Gresoski4 years ago in Poets
Reed Alexander's Literary Review of 'Just Break My Heart Already' (2020) by Chaire Michael Clemons
You know what was brilliant about the opening of this book? I feel like it needed a trigger warning. The narrator is so good at emulating that little voice of anxiety in my head; and if you don't have anxiety LIKE FUCKING ME, after this, you might. It's an excellent way to really set you off, and in this respect, set the mood.
By Reed Alexander4 years ago in Poets
'The Princess Saves Herself in This One' by Amanda Lovelace. Top Story - October 2019.
I am usually attracted to the cover, the synopsis, or even the author's name, when I choose a book to read. Then there are other times, when I choose a book by reading the first three sentences on the first page. However, Amanda Lovelace's poetry collection's title was the one that did it this time. the princess saves herself in this one.
By Aarushi Shetty5 years ago in Poets
Wake Up, Sleepy Poet
Since I’ve moved to California, I have had the good fortune of meeting Rich, who runs the Cholla Needles literary magazine out in Joshua Tree. He was one of the first people I met here. Kind with twinkling eyes, he sat with me awhile for coffee. We talked at length about the vibrant writing community in these parts.
By Laura DiNovis Berry5 years ago in Poets
Color Commentary on the Game of Life
Baseball has long been admonished for being too slow, too boring form of entertainment. Alan Harris proves those critiques to be wrong. He uses this sport has a vehicle to talk about life, death and the moments in between. His writing perfectly depicts those players and spectators who are quite ready to go home by the game's end and those who want to play just one more round of catch, just watch one more game. Harris' collection Fall Ball is chock full of a powerful somberness, a sardonic wit, mournful stanzas and the inevitability of death. In short, it is a beautiful work of poetry.
By Laura DiNovis Berry5 years ago in Poets