Poetry

Counting Descent

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Counting Descent By Clint Smith Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781938912658
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Write Bloody Publishing - August 1st, 2016

Smith's How The Word Is Passed is flying off the shelves, so why not complement it with his debut poetry collection? Counting Descent feels like canon to me and I'm thrilled to see it reprinted. Come find me after you've processed Clint's instructions for cardboard boxes, I'm still recovering.

Caleb


Red White and Whole

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Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Award Winner By Rajani LaRocca Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780063047426
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Quill Tree Books - February 2nd, 2021

This long awaited novel in verse illustrating the struggles of balancing two cultural identities felt like I was looking into a mirror in which I could see myself, my mother, my grandmother, my aunts, and every Indian woman in my life who had to assimilate into American culture. It is beautifully written and is semi-autobiographical. If you like Rajani's work, check out her other middle grade novels and picture books. She is incredible!

Janaea


She's Strong but She's Tired

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She's Strong, but She's Tired (What She Felt #3) By r.h. Sin Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781524858285
Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)
Published: Andrews McMeel Publishing - September 22nd, 2020

This collection is full of beautiful words and phrases that I often turn to on days I crave to feel seen. These poems have become such a great tool for me in the dark days of social distancing so I highly recommend this selection if you too are craving the seemingly long lost feeling of human solidarity.

Hannah


Beowulf

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Beowulf: A New Translation By Maria Dahvana Headley Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780374110031
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: MCD x FSG Originals - August 25th, 2020

This new translation of Beowulf is everything the version you (perhaps begrudgingly) read in high school was not. The language is fresh and florid, brimming with alliteration and bravado and modern slang. Headley translates the characters of this age-old poem into people we can recognize, instead of the granite giants of legend. It is, in a word, readable, and delightfully so. Her introduction is also its own work of art; it would be worth the purchase for that alone. 

 

Meaghan


What Kind of Woman

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What Kind of Woman: Poems By Kate Baer Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780063008427
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Harper Perennial - November 10th, 2020

I started following Kate Baer on instagram this spring and eagerly awaited this book. It didn't disappoint! This is poetry for a generation of women who have been told to be anything but themselves. Kate Baer sets you free. Embrace it and share it.

Heather


I Would Leave Me If I Could

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I Would Leave Me If I Could.: A Collection of Poetry By Halsey Cover Image
By Halsey
$24.99
ISBN: 9781982135607
Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)
Published: Simon & Schuster - November 10th, 2020

This collection blew my already high expectations out of the water. Halsey is an extremely talented singer songwriter who is gifted in her ability to express herself in the most breathtaking ways. This collection is booming with raw and deep emotion, strung together in the loveliest, most immersing fashion. I couldn't put it down.

 

Hannah


Lost Spells

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The Lost Spells By Robert MacFarlane, Jackie Morris Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9781487007799
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Anansi International - October 27th, 2020

Phenomenal. I didn't think this pair of creators could outdo their previous book Lost Words, but they have. The illustrations are so beautiful; it feels like you could fall into the scenes. The poetry is fun, and haunting, and lyrical. Definitely the type of poetry that rumbles around in your head, so much so that you'll find yourself thinking of it time and time again. Unlike its predecessor, in a very travel-handy format!

Stacey


Beowulf

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Beowulf: A New Translation By Maria Dahvana Headley Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780374110031
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: MCD x FSG Originals - August 25th, 2020

This new translation of Beowulf is everything the version you (perhaps begrudgingly) read in high school was not. The language is fresh and florid, brimming with alliteration and bravado and modern slang. Headley translates the characters of this age-old poem into people we can recognize, instead of the granite giants of legend. It is, in a word, readable, and delightfully so. Her introduction is also its own work of art; it would be worth the purchase for that alone. 

Meaghan


Negotiations

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Negotiations: Poems By Destiny O. Birdsong Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781951142131
Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)
Published: Tin House Books - October 13th, 2020

Reading Negotiations is like grabbing a piece of metal so cold it feels like fire in your palm. Birdsong leverages both the eye-contact of direct confessional poetry and the ambiguity and complexity of more fluid poetic forms and expressions to create a collection that is equal parts pain and power. A challenging, exciting, even startling debut.

 Josh


A HISTORY OF KINDNESS

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A History of Kindness By Linda Hogan Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781948814256
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Torrey House Press - June 2nd, 2020

Linda Hogan, the current Chickasaw Nation Writer in Residence, is (in addition to being an incredible writer) an environmentalist, historian, and activist. These facets all shine through her newest poetry collection. A History of Kindness examines the violence that has been done to the American landscape and its peoples, and responds to it with beauty, compassion, and hope. If you enjoy Mary Oliver or Braiding Sweetgrass, or if you just need a book to feed your spirit and anchor you to the natural world right now, pick this one up.

 

Kate


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