Two (More) Reasons to Read Poetry Today

While reading and writing poetry is a fantastic pursuit on any given day, today we have two extra reasons to partake! Not only is April National Poetry Month, but April 28th is also Great Poetry Reading Day. So poetryvoiceI gathered up some poetry books that could be the perfect choice to enjoy on this literary day. Do not feel limited by this tiny look at our poetry collection either! Come and take a look at our poetry display or the 811’s in our nonfiction collection.

1. The Voice That is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the Twentieth Century edited by Hayden Carruth

2. The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems or Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collinspoetryrevolution

3. Everyman’s Poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; edited by Colin Graham

4. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation edited by Mark Eleveld

poetryjackie5. The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy

6. Sunken Garden Poetry, 1992-2011 edited by Brad Davis

7. The Poetry of Robert Frost: the Collected Poems edited by Edward Connery Lathem

poetrynash8. Anthology of Modern Japanese Poetry Translated & compiled by Edith Marcombe Shiffert & Yūki Sawa

9. Selected Poetry of Ogden Nash: 650 Rhymes, Verses, Lyrics, and Poems

10. The Enlightened Heart: an Anthology of Sacred Poetry edited by Stephen Mitchell

If you are looking for poetry books to interest kids, or adults that simply enjoy reading children’s literature (like myself), then check out this older post; Great Poetry Books to Share with Children.

Or perhaps you would rather an audiobook so you can listen to the poetry? try The Poets Corner: the One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family compiled by John Lithgow, The Storm King: Stories, Narratives, Poems: Spoken Word Set to a World of Music by Pete Seeger, The Voice of the Poet by E. E. Cummings, The Iliad by Homer, The Odyssey by Homer, William Carlos Williams, The Essential Edgar Allan Poe or,  A Patriot’s Handbook: Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy.

Six Picks : Books About Books

For book lovers, nothing beats a good book. Except, maybe, a good book about books! Bibliophiles rejoice, here are 6 great novels that celebrate the written word and those who treasure it.

1. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. In a world where you can actually get lost (literally) in literature, Thursday Next, a notorious Special Operative in literary detection, races against time to stop the world’s Third Most Wanted criminal from kidnapping characters, including Jane Eyre, from works of literature, forcing her to dive into the pages of a novel to stop literary homicide.

2. The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble. The Reading Group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books. Over the course of a year, each of these women become intertwined, both in the books they read and within each other’s lives.

3. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Meggie, 12,  lives a quiet life alone with her father, a bookbinder. But her father has a deep secret–he possesses an extraordinary magical power – he can “read” fictional characters to life. Trouble begins when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Living with a foster family in Germany during World War II, a young girl struggles to survive her day-to-day trials through stealing anything she can get her hands on, but when she discovers the beauty of literature, she realizes that she has been blessed with a gift that must be shared with others, including the Jewish man hiding in the basement.

5. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. A boy named Daniel selects a novel from a library of rare books, enjoying it so much that he searches for the rest of the author’s works, only to discover that someone is destroying every book the author has ever written.

6. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. After a layoff during the Great Recession sidelines his tech career, Clay Jannon takes a job at the titular bookstore in San Francisco, and soon realizes that the establishment is a facade for a strange secret.

Book Club Picks – Fantasy

book clubIs your book club looking to escape the here and now?  Try reading a fantasy and discover a new dimension.

written in my ownWritten In My Own Heart’s Blood – Diana Gabaldon – After being presumed dead, Jamie Fraser returns to find that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitmate son has discovered who is father is, and his nephew has decided to marry a Quaker.bone clocks

The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell – Interweaves six narratives spanning the period between 1984 and the 2030s to chronicle a secret war between a cult of soul-decanters and a small group of vigilantes who would take them down.

the oceanThe Ocean At The End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman – Presents a modern fantasy about fear, love, magic, and sacrifice in the story of a family at the mercy of dark forces, whose only defense is the three women who live on a farm at the end of the lane.fool's assassin

Fool’s Assassin – Robin Hobb – llegitimate royal and former assassin FitzChivalry Farseer masquerades as a country squire with his beloved wife, but finds himself drawn back to his former life by old allegiances.

visionsVisions – Kelley Armstrong – Estranged from Gabriel when his past comes to light, Olivia Taylor-Jones receives a sinister warning in the form of a murder victim dressed to look like her and struggles to learn the truth about the victim, the role of her new home, and her susceptibility to old enemies.heavens rise

The Heavens Rise – Christopher Rice – When Niquette Delongpre is exposed to a small parasite deep in the swamps outside of New Orleans, she must come to grips with her mysterious and dangerous new powers to battle against a rising evil.

innocenceInnocence – Dean Koontz – Foraging for supplies by night in a beautiful but hostile urban world where strangers would kill him on sight, Addison endures a solitary existence before meeting a quicksilver girl engaged in a dangerous duel of wits with a malicious, well-placed enemy.witch's daughter

The Witch’s Daughter – Paula Brackston – Witnessing the death of her witch mother in the spring of 1628, Bess Hawksmith turns to secluded warlock Gideon Masters for protection and learns formidable powers, including immortality, skills she begins teaching to a new apprentice centuries later.

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in April

April is typically a month of new beginnings. The snow is gone (we hope), the grass, leaves, and flowers are starting to grow, and plenty of new books are hitting the shelves.  Who knows, it may even get warm enough to read outside!

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for April are:

  1. At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen
  2. The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
  3. A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley
  4. The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg
  5. Still the One by Jill Shalvis
  6. Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova
  7. House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy
  8. The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos
  9. The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
  10. Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

Linda Reads: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

nightThe Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is a poignant, beautifully written book that takes us back in history to France during World War II.

The book starts off in present day and the story is told by an elderly woman facing a move into a nursing home to face her last battle, cancer.  But first, she has something she must do.

The story follows two sisters, Viann and Isabelle Rossignol, who have always been close despite their differences. Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight, Viann and Isabelle’s father sends Isabelle to help her older sister cope. As the war progresses, it’s not only the sisters’ relationship that is tested, but also their strength and their individual senses of right and wrong. With life as they know it changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Viann and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.

Ms. Hannah writes heartfelt, vivid descriptions taking great care with every detail.  You will be transported to wartime France.  You will feel all the pain, joy, love, and hardships of the Rossignol family and those who interact with them.  I read the book in one sitting, unable to put it down and the story still lingers with me a month later.  It earned a spot on my top ten favorite books list.