This Way to the Sugar by Hieu M. Nguyen is a beautiful and brutal poetry collection about the author’s experience as a gay midwestern Asian American. It’s very accessible but also extremely dark at times - be sure to look up content warnings beforehand.
You can also never go wrong with Richard Siken. I think Crush is probably the most accessible of his works.
Salt by Nayyirah Waheed, Heaven or This by Topaz Winters, and Sugarplum by Darshana Suresh are some shorter accessible poetry collections that might help you acclimate to the genre!
Poetry: Billy Collins. He also has a livestream on FB on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Poetry anthologies. Right now I am enjoying two edited by James Crews: The Path to Kindness, Poems of Connection and Joy; How to Love the World, Poems of Gratitude and Hope. Mary Oliver.
For poetry, try reading Mary Oliver - she's very approachable. Also Billy Collins. And I love the book "All the Small Poems and Fourteen More" by Valerie Worth - great little snippets and observations, mostly of the natural world.
I don't really have any reading goals this year - my book reading was down last year because I've subscribed to more newsletters, but I'm ok with that!
reading this newsletter as a sign that I should too read more poetry and essays as I've been trying to do for years. I have settled for 30 books this year but I'm not sure if I should count the webnovels and manga/manhwa/manhua that I also read? They're so easy to consume I finish them in hours which makes me feel like I'm cheating
I read The Attachments last year (or the year before?) and still think about it. It was the sweetest book without actually being syurpy if that makes sense.
I am also hoping to read more poetry and am excited about Poetry unbound : 50 poems to open your world / Pádraig Ó Tuama. There is a Poetry Unbound podcast as well.
My favorite recent poetry compilation is Set Me On Fire: A Poem for Every Feeling, edited by Ella Risbridger. She has a great introduction about how she made the book for people who don't like poetry. And her notes throughout are wonderful.
I'm doing the Reading Glasses 2023 reading challenge as well as some of my own goals: 3 backlist books, finish a series, read a honker (> 500 pages), read a book that's been on my TBR 3 years or longer, and work on getting through my owned TBR pile. I always love your recommendations!
I'm currently reading "And Yet" by Kate Baer, which I have found really accessible so far. I also consistently return to "No Matter the Wreckage" by Sarah Kay, who you can also watch do a lot of spoken word on YouTube. I found her videos first, so it was a unique experience to read her poetry and hear her voice as I went.
This Way to the Sugar by Hieu M. Nguyen is a beautiful and brutal poetry collection about the author’s experience as a gay midwestern Asian American. It’s very accessible but also extremely dark at times - be sure to look up content warnings beforehand.
You can also never go wrong with Richard Siken. I think Crush is probably the most accessible of his works.
Salt by Nayyirah Waheed, Heaven or This by Topaz Winters, and Sugarplum by Darshana Suresh are some shorter accessible poetry collections that might help you acclimate to the genre!
Thank you for these recommendations! I added them to my list!
Poetry: Billy Collins. He also has a livestream on FB on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Poetry anthologies. Right now I am enjoying two edited by James Crews: The Path to Kindness, Poems of Connection and Joy; How to Love the World, Poems of Gratitude and Hope. Mary Oliver.
Second person to suggest Billy Collins! I will have to check him out.
A book with white lotus vibes? Sound good. Attached also seems pretty cool. Thanks for the recommendations :)
Ross Gay! Essays AND poetry. Always and forever.
I have The Book of Delights on hold at the library!
For poetry, try reading Mary Oliver - she's very approachable. Also Billy Collins. And I love the book "All the Small Poems and Fourteen More" by Valerie Worth - great little snippets and observations, mostly of the natural world.
I don't really have any reading goals this year - my book reading was down last year because I've subscribed to more newsletters, but I'm ok with that!
I've read some Mary Oliver and liked it! So I need to get a full collection from her.
"Devotions" is a wonderful collection of Mary Oliver's work. I keep it nearby and just open it and read whatever I find there.
If you haven’t read Leigh Stein’s poetry, it is really fun and accessible!
I read What To Miss When and enjoyed it. (Also it's title is super close to this newsletter.)
I couldn’t remember the title and my brain kept saying “What to Read If” 😂
This made my day.
reading this newsletter as a sign that I should too read more poetry and essays as I've been trying to do for years. I have settled for 30 books this year but I'm not sure if I should count the webnovels and manga/manhwa/manhua that I also read? They're so easy to consume I finish them in hours which makes me feel like I'm cheating
My take is always that reading is reading! Do what you love. Life is too short otherwise.
Another excellent post - thank you!
Thanks for reading!
I read The Attachments last year (or the year before?) and still think about it. It was the sweetest book without actually being syurpy if that makes sense.
Yes! Not saccharine. It's a fine line.
My two favorite contemporary poets: Eve Ewing and Chen Chen. Can't recommend them enough. Very accessible, and both are marginalized voices.
Will check them out! Thank you.
I am also hoping to read more poetry and am excited about Poetry unbound : 50 poems to open your world / Pádraig Ó Tuama. There is a Poetry Unbound podcast as well.
👀👀👀
My favorite recent poetry compilation is Set Me On Fire: A Poem for Every Feeling, edited by Ella Risbridger. She has a great introduction about how she made the book for people who don't like poetry. And her notes throughout are wonderful.
Oh! I will look!
I received "You're Invited" from Book of the Month last year, and I haven't started it yet. You just got me very excited about it!
Enjoy!
I'm doing the Reading Glasses 2023 reading challenge as well as some of my own goals: 3 backlist books, finish a series, read a honker (> 500 pages), read a book that's been on my TBR 3 years or longer, and work on getting through my owned TBR pile. I always love your recommendations!
Have you chosen the honker yet?
I’m leaning toward R.F. Kuang’s Babel as I own a hard copy of it but I’m absolutely open to suggestions.
White Lotus >>>>
I'm currently reading "And Yet" by Kate Baer, which I have found really accessible so far. I also consistently return to "No Matter the Wreckage" by Sarah Kay, who you can also watch do a lot of spoken word on YouTube. I found her videos first, so it was a unique experience to read her poetry and hear her voice as I went.
I just read I Hope This Finds You Well and really enjoyed it.