Happy National Poetry Month!... Who Are Your Favorite Poets or Poems?

Happy National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month! And I've been so busy, I haven't even talked about it yet! Here is a photo of some of my favorite poetry books too. I have them lying around the house to be picked up and enjoyed whenever the mood strikes. 

In general, I think people have a love/hate relationship with poetry. Either you enjoy it or you can't be bothered. There are all kinds of poetry, from Shakespeare's sonnets to more contemporary written poems, such as by poet Billy Collins... there are free verse, Rhymed, Epics, Lyrical, Haiku, Blank verse...

Though I do enjoy reading the Romantics of the late 18th and early 19th century, my favorite poets are from the 20th and 21st century. Let me share some of my favorite poets today...

Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Donald Hall, Jo Harjo, Nikki Giovanni, Seamus Heaney, Wistawa Szymborska, Marge Piercy, Tracy K. Smith, Julia Hartwig, Jane Kenyon, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost,  Federico García Lorca, and Donna Marie Merritt. (Donna is a CT poet who was gracious enough to come to my book club for a night of poetry and her poetry is wonderful!)

This week while looking at new book releases I came upon a newly released book of poetry called Size of Your Joy: Poems by Elise Powers. I found her website, sampled some of her poetry( you should too!) and really liked it… and ordered her new poetry book to add to my growing collection. (Look for a review of her book too!).

Some poetry collections that I like... Good Poems by Garrison Keillor, She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey through Poems by Caroline Kennedy, and Poems to Learn by Heart by Caroline Kennedy.

But, how do you pick out a book of poetry? You open up one and read a poem or two.. maybe more. To get a feel for the poem and the poet... Does it speak to you? Can you relate to its' subject matter? Do you just like it? 

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE POETRY BOOKS? 

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE POEMS?

April is National Poetry Month... read any good poems lately?

 

April is National Poetry Month! People seem to have a love/hate relationship with poetry. Either you enjoy it or you can't be bothered. There are all sorts of types of poetry, from Shakespeare's sonnets to more contemporary written poems, such as Amanda Gordon's poem to the Nation... Free verse, Rhymed, Epics, Lyrical, Haiku, Blank verse...

Though I do enjoy reading the Romantics of the late 18th and early 19th century, some of my favorite poets are from the 20th and 21st century. Let me share some of my favorite poets today...

Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Donald Hall, Jo Harjo, Nikki Giovanni, Seamus Heaney, Wistawa Szymborska, Marge Piercy, Tracy K. Smith, Julia Hartwig, Jane Kenyon, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost,  Federico García Lorca, and Donna Marie Merritt.

Recently found poets I like... Catherine Cohen, Amanda Gordon, Joumana Haddad.

Poetry Collections that I like... Good Poems by Garrison Keillor, She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey through Poems by Caroline Kennedy, and Poems to Learn by Heart by Caroline Kennedy.

Here is a photo of some of my favorite poetry books too. I have them lying around the house to be picked up and enjoyed whenever the mood strikes.

But, how do you pick out a book of poetry? You open up one and read a poem or two.. maybe more. To get a feel for the poem and the poet... Does it speak to you? Can you relate to its' subject matter? Do you just like it? 

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE POETRY BOOKS? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE POEMS?

Peaches, a poem by Donna Marie Merritt

Peaches

She could fit in the palm of your hand
when she was born. She was cute.
Stil, I told her right from the start,
I don't like dogs.
I had given in for the sake
of my daughters.
When she was old enough, at eight weeks,
to be separated from her mother,
we brought this bundle of fur home.
I held her on my lap in the car,
but only because she was scared.
After all, she had just left her
mother and siblings. Yet, I told her,
I don't like dogs.
When I lifted her from the kitchen and set her down
one step into the family room (she was afraid
to make the leap), I told her,
I don't like dogs.
When we replaced the carpet in the famiily room
because training had not gone well at first,
you know what I told her
(though I did like the new carpet).
When she barked incessantly
every tiime someone entered,
When she ran in circles
waiting to go outside,
When she shook with excitement
eager for a treat,
When my back ached from shoveling a path
and clearing an area in the snow-covered yard
so she could do her business, I told her sternly,
I don't like dogs.
When she forgot she was playing fetch
and wandered awawy to lie in the sun or
When she curled up on my lap,
I told her, as I petted her,
I don't like dogs.
When I carried her from the kitchen and set her down
on the chair because she was too weak and sick
to do it on her own,
I looked in her eyes and remembered how she danced
around for twelve years as if I were praising her
each time I told her
I don't like dogs.
When I cleaned up her vomit and feces,
When I cooked bacon and eggs and steak
and tried to coax her to eat,
When I carried her outside to feel the cool grass
one more time, I told her,
I don't like dogs
and she seemed comforted.
When her eyes glazed over,
When my daughters and I held her
for the last time, I told her,
You're a good dog.
I will miss you...
I think she knew.
                                ... Donna Marie Merritt
                                    from her book, Her House and Other Poems
*reprinted here with special permission from the author, Donna Marie Merritt

About the Poet...

Donna Marie Merritt is the author most recently of We Walk Together and of Her House and Other Poems. She is also the author of the Poetry for Tough Times series: What’s Wrong with Ordinary? Poems to Celebrate Life; Cancer, A Caregiver’s View; and Job Loss, A Journey in Poetry. Donna’s work has appeared in magazines, school reading programs, and American Library Association’s Book Links. Her poems can be found in a variety of anthologies, including: Garbanzo, volume 5, by Seraphemera Books; Caduceus, volumes 9 and 10, by the Yale Medical Group; Olives, Now and Then: poems in honor of Donald Hall by the Connecticut Poetry Society; and Dear One: A Tribute to Lee Bennett Hopkins by the National Council of Teachers of English. Her children's poems have been included in anthologies such as National Geographic's Book of Nature Poetry. 

Donna is a former columnist for Teaching K–8 magazine, was a teacher for 14 years, spent a dozen years as an editor, and is the author of 15 math and science books for children.

The Lanyard, A Poem by Billy Collins

The Lanyard - Poem by Billy Collins

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room
bouncing from typewriter to piano
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the 'L' section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word, Lanyard.
No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past.
A past where I sat at a workbench
at a camp by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips into a lanyard.
A gift for my mother.
I had never seen anyone use a lanyard.
Or wear one, if that's what you did with them.
But that did not keep me from crossing strand over strand
again and again until I had made a boxy, red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold facecloths on my forehead
then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim and I in turn presented her with a lanyard.
'Here are thousands of meals' she said,
'and here is clothing and a good education.'
'And here is your lanyard,' I replied,
'which I made with a little help from a counselor
'Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth and two clear eyes to read the world.' she whispered.
'And here,' I said, 'is the lanyard I made at camp.'
'And here,' I wish to say to her now,
'is a smaller gift. Not the archaic truth,
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took the two-toned lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless worthless thing I wove out of boredom
would be enough to make us even.'
                               ...Billy Collins

5 Tips for Poetry Performance: Doing Poetry Right with Renee M. LaTulippe

                        

What the Living Do, a Poem by Marie Howe

What the Living Do

Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there.
And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up

waiting for the plumber I still haven't called. This is the everyday we spoke of.
It's winter again: the sky's a deep, headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through

the open living-room windows because the heat's on too high in here and I can't turn it off.
For weeks now, driving, or dropping a bag of groceries in the street, the bag breaking,

I've been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,

I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.

What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss — we want more and more and then more of it.

But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep

for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:
I am living. I remember you.

    ... Marie Howe

    From What the Living Do.

This is How You Celebrate National Poetry Month...

This is How You Celebrate National Poetry Month!

Throughout the whole month of April we've been celebrating National Poetry Month! We've shared books, poems, videos of poets reading their poems and I even shared about the poetry reading I went to on a friday evening. Just in case you missed any of the posts, I thought it would be a great idea to list all the poetry posts we've done so far this month on Chick with Books...You can click on the post title to take you to the post...

April 1st...   National Poetry Month Starts! What it's all about!

April 1st...   "Poems to First Love" by Matthew Yeager

April 2nd..  Billy Collins reads his poem, "To My Favourite 17 Year Old High-School Girl"

April 3rd...  The Sunday Salon and Poems, Poets and National Poetry Month

April 8th...  Rachel Zucker reads her poem, "Please Alice Notley..."

April 12th... "After The Movie" by Marie Howe

April 14th... "If You Forget Me" by Pablo Neruda

April 17th...  The Sunday Salon and... 3 Reasons Why You Should Go to a Poetry Reading

More Poets, Poems and Poetry Talk Coming All Month Long...

If You Forget Me, A Poem by Pablo Neruda

If You Forget Me - Poem by Pablo Neruda

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.
..................................Pablo Neruda

After the Movie by Marie Howe

After the Movie

My friend Michael and I are walking home arguing about the movie.
He says that he believes a person can love someone
and still be able to murder that person.

I say, No, that's not love. That's attachment.
Michael says, No, that's love. You can love someone, then come to a day

when you're forced to think "it's him or me"
think "me" and kill him.

I say, Then it's not love anymore.
Michael says, It was love up to then though.

I say, Maybe we mean different things by the same word.
Michael says, Humans are complicated: love can exist even in the
murderous heart.

I say that what he might mean by love is desire.
Love is not a feeling, I say. And Michael says, Then what is it?

We're walking along West 16th Street — a clear unclouded night — and I hear my voice
repeating what I used to say to my husband: Love is action, I used to say
to him.

Simone Weil says that when you really love you are able to look at
someone you want to eat and not eat them.

Janis Joplin says, take another little piece of my heart now baby.

Meister Eckhart says that as long as we love images we are doomed to
live in purgatory.

Michael and I stand on the corner of 6th Avenue saying goodnight.
I can't drink enough of the tangerine spritzer I've just bought —

again and again I bring the cold can to my mouth and suck the stuff from
the hole the flip top made.

What are you doing tomorrow? Michael says.
But what I think he's saying is "You are too strict. You are
a nun."

Then I think, Do I love Michael enough to allow him to think these things
of me even if he's not thinking them?

Above Manhattan, the moon wanes, and the sky turns clearer and colder.
Although the days, after the solstice, have started to lengthen,

we both know the winter has only begun.

                                                                ... Marie Howe

From the book, The Kingdom Of Ordinary Time. Howe is the author of What the Living Do, The Kingdom of Ordinary Time and The Good Thief

Rachel Zucker: "Please Alice Notley..."

                   



                           

The Sunday Salon and Poems, Poets and National Poetry Month...

 Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!

There is a fresh layer of snow this morning in Connecticut. Why it should surprise me to have snow in April, I don't know except for the fact that it was almost 80 degrees the other day. And there is more snow coming! And high winds! And so... let's get comfy inside, grab a cup of joe and let's talk books! In particular, let's talk about poetry books. April is National Poetry Month and we are enjoying poetry here, at Chick with Books, all month! Poetry is something I enjoy, and have continued to expand my enjoyment of. There have been wonderful poets through out the ages; poets such as Yeats or Browning (both Elizabeth and Robert), Lord Byron (She Walks in Beauty), Millay, but there are some wonderful contemporary poets to appreiate too... Jane Hirshfield, Mary Oliver, Billy Collins to name just a few. But people have always had that love hate relationship with poetry. Why read poetry? How to read poetry? When to read poetry?... Read poetry to the person you love. Enjoy the stillness around you as you read a poem. Enjoy the words, the irony, the humor, the feelings a poem shares with you. Just do it... Here are some ways to do it...

She Walks in Beauty by Caroline Kennedy... In She Walks in Beauty, Caroline Kennedy has once again marshaled the gifts of our greatest poets to pay a very personal tribute to the human experience, this time to the complex and fascinating subject of womanhood. Inspired by her own reflections on more than fifty years of life as a young girl, a woman, a wife, and a mother, She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry's eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Kennedy has divided the collection into sections that signify to her the most notable milestones, passages, and universal experiences in a woman's life, and she begins each of these sections with an introduction in which she explores and celebrates the most important elements of life's journey. The collection includes works by Elizabeth Bishop, Sharon Olds, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, W. H. Auden, Adrienne Rich, Sandra Cisneros, Anne Sexton, W. S. Merwin, Dorothy Parker, Queen Elizabeth I, Lucille Clifton, Naomi Shahib Nye, and W. B. Yeats. Whether it's falling in love, breaking up, friendship, marriage, motherhood, or growing old, She Walks in Beauty is a priceless resource for anyone, male or female, who wants a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a woman.

This is a wonderful collection of poetry that reflects growing up female. If you are looking for a gift for a sister, mother, daughter or girlfriend, this would make a wonderful one. I have this book and enjoy opening it and randomly reading poems. But there are other ways to enjoy these poems - you can inscribe these poems in cards, books, letters to the women in your lives as special moments happen.. a bride to be, a first child, being a mother. Just a thought.

*************

The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe... Hurrying through errands, attending a dying mother, helping her own child down the playground slide, the speaker in these poems wonders: what is the difference between the self and the soul? The secular and the sacred? Where is the kingdom of heaven? And how does one live in Ordinary Time—during those periods that are not apparently miraculous?

Marie Howe's poetry is thought provoking and accessible. Straight forward and funny. As soon as I read this book of her poetry, she became one of my favorite poets. They are simple and yet beautiful.

                                              *************

The Captain's Verses by Pablo Neruda... First published anonymously in 1952, some years before Neruda married Matilde Urrutia - the one with "the fire / of an unchained meteor" - to whom he had addressed these poems of love, ecstasy, devotion, and fury. The bilingual edition is seen by many as the most intimate and passionate volume of Neruda's love poetry, capturing all the erotic energy of a new love. 

This is such beautiful poetry. Pablo Neruda wrote these poems to his lover Matilde before they were married and they are filled with such passion and tenderness. All of the copies of this book I've seen are bilingual, with the poem in Spanish on one page and the English translation on the facing page. As a crazy spanish student in the 70's, I loved reading these in Spanish, but even if you can't read Spanish, they sound so beautiful in Spanish that you should make sure you buy a bilingual version and try your hand at some Spanish.

****************

Good Poems by Garrison Keillor (editor)...  Every day people tune in to The Writer's Almanac on public radio and hear Garrison Keillor read them a poem. And here, for the first time, is an anthology of poems from the show, chosen by Keillor for their wit, their frankness, their passion, their "utter clarity in the face of everything else a person has to deal with at 7 a.m." 

If you are familiar with Garrison Keillor, than you know these are great poems. If you are not familiar with him, you need to watch a few episodes of A Prarie Home Companion! These are not actually his poems, but poems he had picked out for all the wonder and imagination that makes a great poem. I have always enjoyed opening this collection of poems and reading them. They are about lifes moments.

**************

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers 

'Hope' is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—

And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—

And on the strangest Sea—

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb—of Me.

                                            ...by Emily Dickinson 

                                                                 

****************

Weekly Wrap up... 

*Friday was the start of April, and National Poetry Month. Learn about what it's all about by following THIS LINK.

*Friday we also posted our first poem to start the month off right. Follow THIS LINK to read Matthew Yeager's Poem to First Love.

*Saturday we posted Billy Collins reading one of my favorite poems. Follow THIS LINK to hear his poem (via video) "To my favourite 17 year old High-school girl" (It's always nice to hear the actual poet read his/her work).

Question... Do you read poetry?

I hope I've inspired you to read some poetry! You can find poetry in many places online too... The Poetry Foundation, Poem Hunter, Poems.com, Poets. org. You can also sign up to receive a poem a day in your inbox through Poets.org. Read some poetry, write some poetry!, and come back throughout the month to discover more poems, poets and all things poetry! 

Happy Reading.. Suzanne

P.S. Have a favorite poem or poet? Share it here! I'd love to hear!

"To my favourite 17 year old High-school girl" - Billy Collins

                          

National Poetry Month and Matthew Yeager

Poem to First Love 

To have been told “I love you” by you could well be, for me,

the highlight of my life, the best feeling, the best peak

on my feeling graph, in the way that the Chrysler building

might not be the tallest building in the NY sky but is

the best, the most exquisitely spired, or the way that

Hank Aaron’s career home-run total is not the highest

but the best, the one that signifies the purest greatness. 

So improbable!  To have met you at all and then

to have been told in your soft young voice so soon

after meeting you: “I love you.”  And I felt the mystery

of being that you, of being a you and being

loved, and what I was, instantly, was someone

who could be told “I love you” by someone like you. 

I was, in that moment, new; you were 19; I was 22;

you were impulsive; I was there in front of you, with a future that hadn’t yet been burned for fuel; I had energy;

you had beauty; and your eyes were a pale blue,

and they backed what you said with all they hadn’t seen,

and they were the least ambitious eyes I’d known,

the least calculating, and when you spoke and when

they shone, perhaps you saw the feeling you caused.

Perhaps you saw too that the feeling would stay.

                                                                                  ....Matthew Yeager
Author of "Like That" (Forklift Books, 2016).    
Lives in New York City
Poems to First Love originally published by American Academy of Poets.

April is National Poetry Month!

Mark your calendars! April is National Poetry Month and it starts TOMORROW!

"National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives."

This is the 20th anniversary of the celebration of National Poetry Month! Founded in April of 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, their goals are to...

• highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets,
• encourage the reading of poems,
• assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms,
• increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media,
• encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and 
• encourage support for poets and poetry.

                   How can you participate? 

• Read a poem to someone!
• Read a book of poetry!
• Attend poetry readings during the month! 
• Sign up for Poem a Day, and receive a poem a day in your email!  
• Find poems at Poems.org and The Poetry Foundation.

AND, come by here all month long to learn about poets, poetry, listen to some poems and read some great poems too! 

Happy Poetry Month!

The Sunday Salon and Girl Watching or 3 Women Writer's You Should Be Reading Now

Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!!

Spring is trying to get through all the cold, rain and snow in Connecticut. One day it's in the 50's and then the temperature drops to the 30's the next day. We were suppose to get a little more snow this weekend, but as I am writing this, we haven't seen any more (thank goodness/hopefully not!). But as the days start to get longer and the weather starts to improve, (and I can actually see the sun) I start to feel that itch for Spring reading and new book releases. Yes, there are new book releases every month, but after the dreary winter, there just seems to be something special & fresh about books coming out in the spring. And I've got so many on my TBR list it is bursting! But today, let's look at 3 women writer's who have gotten a lot of attention recently. I read an interesting piece somewhere this week that put these women on a short, sort of emerging talent list. These women are getting a lot of press for their writing and their books coming out. Will they live up to their press?

Here are the 3 women and their books...

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney... From Kirkus Reviews: Dysfunctional siblings in New York wig out when the eldest blows their shared inheritance. 

In an arresting prologue to this generous, absorbing novel, Leo Plumb leaves his cousin’s wedding early, drunk and high, with one of the waitresses and has a car accident whose exact consequences are withheld for quite some time. To make his troubles go away, Leo pillages a $2 million account known as “The Nest,” left by his father for the four children to share after the youngest of them turns 40, though in a sweet running joke, everyone keeps forgetting exactly when that is. Leo’s siblings have been counting heavily on this money to resolve their financial troubles and are horrified to learn that their mother has let Leo burn almost all of it. A meeting is called at Grand Central Oyster Bar—one of many sharply observed New York settings—to discuss Leo’s plans to pay them back. Will Leo even show? Three days out of rehab, he barely makes it through Central Park. But he does appear and promises to make good, and despite his history of unreliability, the others remain enough under the spell of their charismatic brother to fall for it. The rest of the book is a wise, affectionate study of how expectations play out in our lives—not just financial ones, but those that control our closest relationships. Sweeney’s endearing characters are quirky New Yorkers all: Bea Plumb is a widowed writer who tanked after three stories that made her briefly one of “New York’s Newest Voices: Who You Should Be Reading.” Jack Plumb, known as “Leo Lite” in high school to his vast irritation, is a gay antiques dealer married to a lawyer; truly desperate for cash, he becomes involved in a shady deal involving a work of art stolen from the ruins of the World Trade Center. Melody, the youngest, lives in the suburbs in a house she’s about to lose and is obsessed with tracking her teenage twins using an app called Stalkerville. The insouciance with which they thwart her is another metaphor for the theme of this lively novel.

What I Think... This has gotten a lot of buzz and a starred review from Kirkus. I wish I could have read a sample of this, but could not find one sentence anywhere. The story sounds fun, and a nice visit in New York City. I always like reading about places I am familiar with, and I'm looking forward to sampling the writing. On my TBR list!

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As Close To Us As Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner...  multigenerational family saga about the long-lasting reverberations of one tragic summer.

In 1948, a small stretch of the Woodmont, Connecticut shoreline, affectionately named "Bagel Beach," has long been a summer destination for Jewish families. Here sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec assemble at their beloved family cottage, with children in tow and weekend-only husbands who arrive each Friday in time for the Sabbath meal. During the weekdays, freedom reigns. Ada, the family beauty, relaxes and grows more playful, unimpeded by her rule-driven, religious husband. Vivie, once terribly wronged by her sister, is now the family diplomat and an increasingly inventive chef. Unmarried Bec finds herself forced to choose between the family-centric life she's always known and a passion-filled life with the married man with whom she's had a secret years-long affair.
But when a terrible accident occurs on the sisters' watch, a summer of hope and self-discovery transforms into a lifetime of atonement and loss for members of this close-knit clan. Seen through the eyes of Molly, who was twelve years old when she witnessed the accident, this is the story of a tragedy and its aftermath, of expanding lives painfully collapsed. Can Molly, decades after the event, draw from her aunt Bec's hard-won wisdom and free herself from the burden that destroyed so many others?

My Take on this... This is not a debut novel, but you might think of it as her debut. Elizabeth has published one other book, really a 233 pages novella called Mutual and Life Casualty in 2010, and a slim book of poetry called What You Know in Your Hands, along with having her poems published in various places. As Close To Us As Breathing is the culmination of her hard work, and is foretold to be a summer hit. After reading a long sample, I liked the writing, but I wasn't blown away by it. And I wondered if all the references to Shabbos, minyan's and the like will confuse rather than enamor the non-Jewish reader. (Being Jewish and actually having some relatives like this made me smile). I'm putting this on the "Borrow" list for now.

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The Girls by Emma Cline... Girls—their vulnerability, strength, and passion to belong—are at the heart of this stunning first novel. 

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go horribly wrong.

My Thoughts... Though it doesn't say it, it sounds like the Manson Family, and sure enough upon further reading about the book, The Girls by Emma Cline is suppose to be loosely based on them. But it's the 60's right, and this novel is suppose to paint a portrait of the time and the common-of-age of the women who grew up from this era. Sounds like an interesting read, although I really don't need to read any more about the Manson family. But if Emma Cline can throw me back to the 60's and let me relive the craziness, it might be worth it. Though, the central core of the story is suppose to be the friendship of 2 girls.

I couldn't find a sample of the writing here, either, so I'm hoping that it's as good as predicted. There were 12 publishing houses bidding on the rights to this book with Random House finally winning out with the promise of 2 more books from Cline (for a total of a $2million contract!). Whew, that sure is a gamble if the writing doesn't resonate with a whole lot of readers, so I'm betting it's good. On my TBR list.

And just for fun, here's an interesting article from Vulture.com about Emma Cline entitled, 13 Facts About Emma Cline and Her $2 Million Dollar Manson-Family Novel.

Question?... Do you look forward to new books coming out in the Spring?

Recommended Reading... (Historical Fiction anyone?!)
This past week, I downloaded a wonderful historical fiction book called, The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris and am totally absorbed! The writing is so incredible that you feel as though you are in the story surrounded by the sights and sounds of New York City in the 1920's. At least that's where I am now. I've been to Alcatraz and to Dublin and then took a trip on a passenger ship to NYC, where the words of a little girl seeing the statue of liberty for the first time, left me in awe. The people, the neighborhoods, the feel of the times, even the food are so well painted. I am only about 1/3 of the way through, but have no problem recommending this book if you are a historical fiction fan.
Here's a blurb about it from BookPage: McMorris has made a name for herself with beautifully written World War II fiction. Kristina McMorris evokes such a strong sense of place in her writing that to open her books feels less like reading and more like traveling. Her absorbing new novel, The Edge of Lost, opens on Alcatraz Island in 1937, where on a foggy night the warden’s 10-year-old daughter has gone missing. An inmate working in the warden’s greenhouse is hiding information about where she is. We are quickly zipped back to 1919 Dublin, meeting Shanley Keagan, a 12-year-old orphan whose vicious Uncle Will forces him to perform in pubs for spare change. Shan grabs an opportunity to get on a ship to America, scrabbling to forge a future in New York. How those two storylines intersect is at the heart of this epic, deeply felt tale of struggle and second chances, where Shan goes from a boy with dreams of Broadway to an inmate who “waited for the steel bars to slam” while he served 15 to 25 years.

The best part right now is, The Edge of Lost is only $2.99 for the Kindle Book! I put a link on the book title if you're interested. The paperback is under $9 too. Just such a good book and I'm really enjoying it!

Library Loot...
This week I checked out two new books from the library! First book was Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson, a charmer about a recluse author who lost all her money from a ponzi scheme like Bernie Madoff and has to write a new book in order to eat, and what is not yours is not your by Helen Oyeyemi, a collection of short stories all around the idea of keys. I've read the first few chapters of Be Frank with Me and am definitely charmed. One liners, old Hollywood glamour and Alice, a 24 year old assistant sent to make sure the recluse author actually writes the novel make it a fun read, and I look forward to reading it in the coming week.

Last Week...

• Memoir Monday highlighted The Art of the Memoir by Mary Karr
• I posted about & joined the Take Control of Your TBR Pile hosted by Kim at The Caffeinated Reader. (of course my library books cannot be included in this challenge! Oh well)
• I took the Goodreads Leap Day Challenge of reading an extra book this year! Check out what I read by following the link.
• I joined in on Mailbox Monday and talked about what great books came my way last week.
• On Tuesday was the Release Blitz for America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. Take a peek at what the book is all about AND enter the giveaway! 
• First Line Fridays gave us a peek at The Case of Lisandra P. by Helene Gremillon.

Around the World... or at least the internet

Here are a few articles I found around the internet that I thought were interesting...

• Fleeting Wonders: Crayon Makers Stressed Out By Coloring Craze

• Where's The Color In Kids' Lit? Ask The Girl With 1,000 Books (And Counting)

• 10 Books That Will Change How You Think About Fairy Tales

*Next Month... Just a quick heads up here for April, which is National Poetry Month! Do you like reading poetry? How about writing poetry? One way to participate is joining in on Poem in Your Pocket Day, which is April 21, but as April gets nearer we'll talk more about some of the events that will take place. I am not a huge poetry reader, but I do enjoy reading poetry from time to time. And a lifetime ago, I actually wrote poetry.

Okay, I am off to help celebrate my mom's birthday(shhh... she's turning 81!) with cake and books! She's a voracious reader ( I guess that's where I got it from) so, I bought her books! I can't say what I got her here (she reads my blog), but it's a whole bunch of murder mystery/psychological thrillers that I'm sure she'll enjoy!

Hope you found some great reading here today! Share what books YOU found this week! I'd love to here about them!

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... Do You Do Poetry?

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! This is the day during the week where we get together and talk books! So grab a cup of joe, find a comfy chair and relax! What bookish things have you been doing this week?

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Do you read poetry? As a Reader when we think of buying a book, do we think, "Hey, I wond

er what just came out in poetry this week?" Probably now. As much as we might enjoy the occasional poem, do you we read poems regularly? I know I'm guilty of neglecting poetry books. When I listened to the audiobook of The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, the poet Czeslaw Milosz is mentioned and I was curious to learn more about him. What I discovered was some great poetry and an amazing history behind a poet that won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Every once in a while I'll get in the mood for poetry and wander into that section of the bookstore, but if I don't read something about a particular poet, or am not motivated in some other way, poetry is not first on my list for a visit to the bookstore. How about you?

Where do you start with poetry books? Emily Dickinson? Robert Frost? But what about poets you're not familiar with?! How do you discover those poets? One answer is poetry anthologies. Of course, this is also subjective. The editor is choosing their favorites more or less. But itis a good place to start. Here are a few of the poetry books on my shelf...

She Walks in Beauty, A Woman's Journey Through Poems selected by Caroline Kennedy... Caroline Kennedy has once again marshaled the gifts of our greatest poets to pay a very personal tribute to the human experience, this time to the complex and fascinating subject of womanhood. Inspired by her own reflections on more than fifty years of life as a young girl, a woman, a wife, and a mother, She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry's eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Kennedy has divided the collection into sections that signify to her the most notable milestones, passages, and universal experiences in a woman's life, and she begins each of these sections with an introduction in which she explores and celebrates the most important elements of life's journey.

I heard Caroline chatting about her new book on the radio, and it sounded so wonderful. Poems that reflect what it means to be a woman. Things that touch our hearts. Love, break-ups, motherhood, etc. Something else struck me during the interview too- Caroline said one of the traditions that her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy started was to give poems as gifts. When Carloline would ask her mother what she wanted for her birthday, she would answer, "Give me a poem." I'll be reviewing this book later in the month for National Poetry Month, but suffice it to say, it is a wonderful collection of poems and a nice variety of poets.

Poems to Read, A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology edited by Robert Pinsky and Maggie Dietz... The Favorite Poem Project was founded by Pinsky in 1997 during his tenure as poet laureate. Some 18,000 respondents sent letters or e-mails about their favorite poems, which resulted in the anthology America's Favorite Poems and several videos. This new anthology includes poems selected by Favorite Poem Project participants and their personal comments. But it also includes poems chosen by the editors, along with their brief remarks. Although mainly populated by famous English and American poets (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Coleridge, Housman, Dickinson, Frost, Ginsberg, Ashbery), the book has many surprises, like Abraham Lincoln and the Nicaraguan poet Rub n Dario. This landmark publication belongs on the shelves of every library in America. Highly recommended for the breadth of its coverage and the depth of its commentaries.

I thought this was an interesting book because the poems selected were favorite poems. There's a good variety of poems and poets, and as its descriptions says there is a little blurb at the beginning of most of the poems by the person who submitted to it as to the reason why this is a favorite to them. I think this is a nice tweak.

Good Poems selected and edited by Garrison Keillor... Poetry is a regular feature on Garrison Keillor's NPR radio show A Prairie Home Companion, but for the last five years, it has formed the core of The Writer's Almanac, a daily, five-minute, 7 a.m. show on which Keillor reads a poem. Good Poems selects 350 pieces of verse from among the thousands that have been read on the Almanac for "Stickiness, memorability.... You hear it and a day later some of it is still there in the brainpan." Divided by subject-beginning with "O Lord," moving through "Day's Work," "Sons and Daughters" and through to "The End" and "The Resurrection"-the book includes work by writers past (Burns, Dickinson, Bishop, Williams, Shakespeare) and present: Robert Hass, Lisel Mueller, Tom Disch, among many others.

I love listening to Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, and love his reading of poetry on the show. He has a wonderful voice for poetry and always picks great poems. Good Poems are poems meant to be funny, uplifting and poems to just bring a smile to the readers face.

A Child's Book of Poems illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa... William Blake, Kate Greenaway, Emily Dickinson: the writers in this charming anthology of 200 poems—first published in 1969—are among literature’s most beloved. And Gyo Fujikawa’s appealing illustrations depict children of all races sweetly interacting, as well as an engagingly rendered menagerie of animals and the natural world in all its wonderment. Among the verses that children will love are Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Christmas Bells,” Lewis Carroll’s “The Melancholy Pig,” and Eugene Fields’ “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” along with proverbs, limericks, nursery rhymes, and folk songs.

Poetry of course isn't only for adults! But this book could be enjoyed by adults as well as children! The illustrations are beautiful! This would make a wonderful gift for a child in your life too! This was out of print for many years, but luckily it's back for our enjoyment!

Poems are passionate, funny, reflective. What makes poetry powerful is that is expresses these emotions in such a concise form. In only a sparse few lines a poem can move us to tears. We use poems when we exchange vows, we write them to the ones we love, even rap music is poetry. Is poetry more popular than we think? What do you think? Do you read poetry?

Weekly Recap... On Memoir Monday we highlighted In Stitches by Dr. Anthony Youn. A medical school plastic surgery memoir? A coming of age memoir combining plastic surgery and medical school. Thursday was National Poetry in Your Pocket Day! Did you celebrate? You can read all about it at Poets.org. Friday's First Lines gave you a sneak peek at John Sanford's book coming May 10th! It's called Buried Prey, and it's the 21st Prey Book. Saturday I interviewed Mingmei Yip, who's new book Song of the Silk Road, I had the opportunity to read and will be reviewing this coming Saturday! Mingmei Yip shares a bit of herself as an author and artist in her interview.

How was your week? Share what books we should add to our TBR list this week! I love to hear about great books!

Happy Reading... Suzanne