Fantastic Poetry Books Everyone Will Love!
Poet Rita Dove said, “Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.” I’ve always loved reading poetry, but it really wasn’t until the last few years that I started reading entire poetry books the way I do novels. I think it is definitely a genre most people don’t read or don’t read often, but I think that anyone can read and enjoy poetry. April is National Poetry Month, so it’s the perfect time to check out these ten amazing and diverse poetry books! In my suggestions, I’ve avoided poets I think most people are likely to have read in school or be familiar with, and tried to include more contemporary poets. Let’s get started!
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No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay
Sarah Kay is mostly known as a spoken word poet, and this collection includes most of her best poems from her first decade of work. Her poetry is deeply personal, often funny, and extremely relatable. See an excerpt from her poem “Hands” below.
“People used to tell me that I had beautiful hands
told me so often, in fact, that one day I started to believe them
until I asked my photographer father, “Hey daddy could I be a hand model?”
to which he said, “No way.”
I don’t remember the reason he gave me
and I would’ve been upset,
but there were far too many stuffed animals to hold
too many homework assignments to write,
too many boys to wave at
too many years to grow”
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Devotions by Mary Oliver
I already recommended this book in my Read Across America post, but it’s worth mentioning again. Mary Oliver is one of my all-time favorite poets. Every poem she writes feels reverent, filled with rich language and laced with deep emotion. See an excerpt from her poem “Wild Geese” below.
“Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
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Poetry 180, selected by Billy Collins
I love Billy Collins as a poet, and when he was poet laureate, he published this book. It contains 180 poems by multiple poets that anyone can read. You don’t have to be a scholar or even a poetry reader to enjoy this book. It’s a great place for a poetry book beginner. Read the excerpt below from “The Trouble With Poetry,” the only poem by Collins in the collection.
“Poetry fills me with joy
and I rise like a feather in the wind.
Poetry fills me with sorrow
and I sink like a chain flung from a bridge.
But mostly poetry fills me
with the urge to write poetry,
to sit in the dark and wait for a little flame
to appear at the tip of my pencil.”
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Honeybee by Naomi Shihab Nye
Another of my all-time favorites is Naomi Shihab Nye. Her poem, “Gate A-4,” might even be my most favorite poem ever. I have read several of her books, but Honeybee is my favorite. Her poems always tell a larger, deeper story that I just want to be a part of. See an excerpt from “Gate A-4” below.
“She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—
little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag–and was offering them to all the women at the gate.
To my amazement, not a single woman declined one.
It was like a sacrament.
The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo—
we were all covered with the same powdered sugar.
And smiling.
There is no better cookie.”
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Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
This book is different than most on this list in that it is a novel written in verse. It tells the story of Will, a young man with a gun in the waistband of his jeans going down in an elevator. When he gets to the bottom, he’s going to kill his brother’s murderer, or is he? On each floor, someone dead gets on to ride the long way down with him and gives him a piece of the larger story. It’s gripping. You’ll read it in one sitting, and then it won’t let you go. Read an excerpt below.
“When bad things happen
we can usually look up and see
the moon, big and bright,
shining over us.
That always made me feel better.
Like there’s something up there
beaming down on us in the dark.”
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Essential Bukowski by Charles Bukowski
I love Charles Bukowski because his poetry is frank and honest, and he writes about everyday things. When you read one of his poems, it feels like you are just talking to a friend. Read an excerpt from one of my favorites below, “So You Want To Be A Writer.”
“unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.”
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A Poem for Every Day of the Year, selected by Allie Esiri
If you are not usually a poetry reader, starting out with a collection like this one would be a great place to start! It’s a beautiful book with a wide variety of poems, one to read each day. It could be a positive way to start or end your day, or a good challenge for yourself. See an excerpt below from one of my favorites in the collection, “Miracles” by Walt Whitman.
“Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love”
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Like by A. E. Stallings
I’m one of those people who like poetry with form. I especially like sonnets. I blame my AP Literature teacher for this. That’s why I love A. E. Stallings. She writes about all kinds of unexpected things, like fishing or hard-boiled eggs or greek mythology, but all her poems are about the relationships that define our lives. And they are often written in classical forms. And she’s funny! This is from one of my favorites of her sonnets, “Glitter.”
“You have a daughter now. It’s everywhere,
And often in the company of glue.
You can’t get rid of it. It’s in her hair:
A wink of pink, a glint of silver blue.
It’s catching, like the chicken pox, or lice.
It travels, like a planetary scar.”
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Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
I have just recently discovered Ross Gay and I am obsessed! I love this little book of long, rambling poems because sometimes I read the lines and think, “I might have written that.” Disclaimer: These poems are not neat and pretty. But if you like to read the raw and ugly right alongside the beautiful and meaningful, you might love this. The stream of consciousness style and language might be off-putting to some, but if that’s your jam, check this out. Real gratitude is messy, but it matters. Read an excerpt from the titular poem below.
“and you, again you, for hanging tight, dear friend.
I know I can be long-winded sometimes.
I want so badly to rub the sponge of gratitude
over every last thing, including you, which, yes, awkward,
the suds in your ear and armpit, the little sparkling gems
slipping into your eye.”
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Poems that Make Grown Women (or Men) Cry, compiled by Anthony and Ben Holden
This one is actually a two for one. I read Poems that Make Grown Men Cry, but I’ve ordered and am excited to read the one for women. Each of the books contains 100 poems introduced by men (or women) who were emotionally impacted by them. It’s a really cool experience to read what makes a poem resonate in the soul of another person, and I found it made me feel very connected to other people and understand how all of us are really so similar. Here is an excerpt from one of the poems in Poems that Make Grown Women Cry, “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats, one of my favorite all-time love poems.
“When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face”
Click here to buy Poems that Make Grown Men Cry!
Click here to buy Poems to Make Grown Women Cry!
Happy National Poetry Month! I hope you will check out one of these titles! Let me know if you love it!
Or share your favorite poetry books with us! Drop a comment below!
Poetry not your thing? Check out my Dystopian Books post or booklist for Reading Across America!
Have a good day!
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I have never read much poetry but your excitement and thoughts about it make me want to become one. I look forward to reading and enjoying some of the books you have suggested. I have learned a lot from your blog about so many things. Thank you!!!
I’m so glad! I’d love to hear which book you decided to try and how you liked it! Thanks for reading!