Poetry Books

2020 was a good year for poetry! Some of my favorites this year:

• Whale Day by Billy Collins: I always enjoy this poet and his work. These poems were terrific.
• Healing the Divide: This book was a surprise! I bought it on kind of a whim, and it did not disappoint. It was probably my favorite poetry book of the year.
• Red Stilts by Ted Kooser:
• Consider the Lillies by Connie Wanek: I was nervous about these poems, but I ended up really enjoying them.

Poetry books are among my favorite books to actually purchase rather than just checking out from the library because I reread them often. (Although I definitely do use the library to check out new poets, and then usually end up purchasing the book of I like it). Here are some poetry books that I really enjoyed revisiting this year:

• Hartley Field by Connie Wanek: If I had to pick one singular poet that was my absolute favorite all time poet, it would probably be this poet. This book might be my very favorite of all, probably because of the local connection, and by local, I mean in my very own neighborhood. I just love these poems. I reread this book in the late spring and early summer, intending to bookmark my very favorites to read out loud to my kidlets, and in the end, almost every page in the book has is marked because I loved nearly every single poem.
• Kindest Regards by Ted Kooser: I actually now own two copies of this book! I ordered a second, not remembering having read the first, and when it got here, I realized I already owned it. Silly me! To celebrate, I reread it because Kooser is one of my favorite writers, and I enjoyed it immensely the second time as well.
• Amethyst and Agate: Poems of Lake Superior: There are some magnificent gems in this book that I hadn’t picked up for a few years. Lovely.
• Chester Creek Ravine: Haiku by Bart Sutter: I’ve been reading several of these poems out loud to my “victims” in residence this fall, and I always introduce each one as “a short haiku by our local poet Bart Sutter.” I’m usually not a fan of haikus, but I find these delightful, and love the connection to another local park that is almost in my neighborhood. This book also inspired Mr. TOF to try some haiku writing of his own. (He likes them because they are short. He’s a fan of short poems).
• Poems to Learn by Heart edited by Caroline Kennedy: This anthology for kids is such a diverse mix of poetry, and the illustrations are exceptional.
• Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts by Roald Dahl: Mr. TOF loved these. he didn’t remember when I read them to his older siblings because he was too young at the time, so it was fun to revisit these.
• Forgive me I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems by Gail Carson Levine: It’s always a household favorite. Even though this was probably my fourth or fifth time through this book, these poems still make me giggle.
• Ink Knows no Borders: This was one of my favorite poetry books that I read in 2019, and this year, when the lockdown started, I began sharing them out loud with the kidlets. These poems are eye opening and important, and not just for teenagers. I’m still thinking about some of my favorite poems from this book months later.