Poetry Books

Diary of My Heart was given to me by a friend for Christmas. I have been going through a hard time and this was an unexpected gift because the book has not been advertised, but was much better than I expected. The author obviously has suffered through a painful life and shared her feelings with great passion and straight to the point. I plan on sending this as gifts to other friends of mine and highly recommend it. It is a big surprise in a small unsuspecting package. A must read for anyone.

This book is real! The fact that I could relate to this book kept me reading. Told in a style that puts you in the head or heart of someone in pain. It was almost painful at times the feelings of a soul and heart torn apart by bad relationships/loss and more. Diary of My Heart was a wonderful book that I was glad I bought and added to my book collection.

The title of this book Diary of My Heart says it all. I felt as if I'd picked up a diary of someone in great pain. It was impossible not to feel for the author with things like this

"When did I lose who I wanted to be,
Everything in the world seemed so possible to me.
Closing my eyes I could see the world stretched open just waiting for me, All those dreams seemed possible to me"

I could relate to her feelings of loss and disappointment in decisions she'd made that sacrified part of who she was. It was easy to understand where she was coming from.
This was obviously from her life and opened the door wide for us to read. It was as advertised and I liked it.

This was a small book, but a wonderful treat for my senses. This is a great first book for an author. The poems are easily understood and are thought provoking. Absolutely adored this book. Poetry should flow from the person's experiences and this one does that. Easy to pick this up and read it in one sitting!

I got this book at the urging of a friend. Let me just say I was skeptical. This book was worth it. From the beginning it opened up this woman's soul for all to see. It is heartwrenching and beautiful in the way each poem breaks free to allow pain to come forth. Never have I felt as if I were with the person when I was reading a piece of work such as this, but at times I felt as if I shouldn't be reading this it is too personal too honest. However, I am so happy I did because hope shines through brilliantly and in simple terms anyone could relate to. Eagerly I recommend this book to others and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This is a compact anthology, but a wonderful collection that includes Li Po, Wu-Men, Rumi, Kabir, Mirabai, Rilke... One of my personal favorites

mitchell puts together an amazing compilation of sacred poetry in this book. i highly recommend reading the enlightened mind if you like this.

I also received this book many years ago from a friend and have given it to others as a gift many times. It is an exceptional collection. The sacred poems and excerpts come from all over the world and have given me new perspective and joy at many different ages and stages of life. God bless you Stephen Mitchell, for making these treasures known to us.

I bought this book after reading about it in my yoga magazine thinking I could really use a good book of poems to ponder and this book is terrific. The poems really will quiet your mind. I love that such a wide array of authors are represented - from Rumi to Dogen to Emily Dickenson to Walt Whitman. A great collection. Glad I bought it.

The title itself speaks for this tender and uplifting collection of "spiritual" poetry. Mitchell's translation of some of the psalms have a particular clarity for me, and the eclectic mixture of ancient and modern, long and short poems are meditation material that renews me. This is a gift to share with seekers and finders.

Julie Williams has written an exceptional first novel. This insightful story in poems takes the reader on a journey in a young girl's life as she experiences the heartache of loss, struggles to understand those around her, discovers first love, and the boundries of friendship, and through it all learns how to become her own person. Allie Benton is a hero we can all cheer on!

A wonderful book, although I wouldn't call it poetry; more like a diary. I met the author and she is a wonderfully funny person. The story is one that holds your attention. Read it all in one sitting. Couldn't put it down. Even my husband likes it and he doesn't do much reading for pleasure.

I am a 55 year old male man who didn't want to read "a story in poem" about anything. I was given this book and resisted reading it for a very long time. One night I started reading and I could not put it down. It was powerful and moving. It's about a 14 year old girl learning to live in this life. It's a poem. I cried like a baby! I am currently buying up every copy I can. I give this book to anyone I care about.

If you, or maybe your very close friend, had a difficult childhood. This book is for you. Poem and all! Poem just means all the unneeded words are missing. Read this book! (...)

My daughter and I each have a copy of this book and had the same experience reading it: we couldn't put it down. My daughter said that she carried such an ache around in her heart for this young girl. She said she felt as if she truly knew her and loved her. This is a powerful story told in the spare, searing language of penetrating poetry. As a teacher, I have been pondering ways I might bring this book into my classroom. It cries out to be heard as well as read. I have already recommended it to my colleagues.

I enjoyed this book immensely, as did (all!) the members of my book club. The descriptions are lovely, the characters real, the story poignant, the end satisfying.

In spare language, the author shows us through a heartwarming main character what it is like to lose a twin and a father. I felt her anguish about having an unstable mother, and going to a new school without the right clothes to fit in. I felt the heartbreak of her Native American friends who, in the sixties when the novel is set, are scorned by most of the townspeople. It's awesome how much insight and information was conveyed, and how much I was made to care, in such a short book.

Diane Lockward's EVE's RED DRESS cleverly takes the many lives of Eve and brings her into a contemporary present of messy complications and unexpected delights. While "Eve Argues Against Perfection" and enjoys her "Vegetable Love" as it "turned to mush" and "grew mold and began to stink" we are initiated into "Eve's Own Garden" in which the secret (among many) is that this garden is as much a feast of dirt ("I have feasted/on dirt. A garden grows inside me...) as it is the "sweetbriers/so wild and profuse they bleed/over the fence, blood-red, scarlet, crimson./" that this garden dirt has seeded. There is an exuberance in the color and taste of words throughout this collection that renders even the unsettling moments, such as Eve being left by a lover who "goes back/to his wife", with portions of savvy (and saucy) poetry that generously satiates the reader. Even if Eve is in the midst of packing up her lingerie and pointing "the car west on Route 66 toward Paradise,//Nevada" she is enjoying her trip. Driving in the desert where she doesn't know where she is and beginning to panic, she lands us at "Tables for ladies/" where "a babe in a red satin dress/ and a biker chick in black leather" are part of the clientele, where she reminds us, with the waitress at the Diner, that "Honey, you're on your way to paradise,/home of the serpent." And indeed that home, and that serpent, prove a lot more intriguing and satisfying than anything we learned in Bible class. Here, we're offered "a cup/of coffee and a piece of apple pie?" Here "The Flavor of Sadness" is the strawberry that's "so darn delicious" someone "decided to preserve it". Here we learn new "Feeding Habits" and how to "savor the succulent flesh".

These poems offer us glimpses into the twin worlds of myth and reality. Here we are always in the process of discovering. Here "truths" can be beautiful and dangerous. Consider some of these poems: "Eve's Confession," "The Blues Going and Coming," "The Mystery of the Missing Girl, and "The Properties of Light." If you have been looking for a talented, surprising and compassionate poetic voice, buy this book.

I recently discovered this poet in the new Poetry Daily anthology. I bought her book and immediately became a card-carrying member of her fan club. The poems are terrific--full of energy, humor, and feeling. Then the poet came to my town to do a reading. I was captivated by her reading style. And she read some of my favorites--"The Missing Wife" (funny and poignant), "Losing the Blues" (so musical it makes you want to get up and sway), "Pastiche for a Daughter's Absence" (beautiful love poem for a daughter), and "My Husband Discovers Poetry" (an amazing revenge poem). I hope to run into this poet again. Eve's Red Dress is an outstanding collection.

I bought this book right after I heard Garrison Keillor read "My Husband Discovers Poetry" on The Writer's Almanac. I immediately loved that poem which turned out to be the last one in the collection. All too often when I buy a book on the basis of one poem I end up being disappointed. But not this time. The entire collection lives up to the promise of that poem. Again and again, Lockward made me laugh and cry, often at the same time. Her poems of love and desire are among the best I've read. But her subjects also include dancing, eating, gardening, clothing, and more. Lockward takes us through a wide range of moods. She is not afraid to face darkness, but she also knows how to have a good time. She displays an impressive verbal dexterity and creates stunning imagery. She clearly knows and practices her craft. In the end, I found this collection a complete pleasure.

If you can get only one poetry book this year, make this the one. If you're looking for poetry that's original, inventive, well-crafted, and multi-layered, this is it. Lockward has sass, courage, and wit. Her Eve has many faces; she is Everywoman, yet totally unique. And don't make the mistake of thinking the collection will be burdened by religious allusions; there's more blasphemy than doctrine here. This is a collection about a modern woman's world, but it is definitely not for women only; men are welcomed into this world and are much in demand. This is a collection for anyone who enjoys intelligent and passionate poetry that surprises with each rereading.

I'm a 62 year old widower who heard Scott Simon interview Calef Brown on NPR. I bought it on a whim and it is everything they said it was....funny, catchy and edgy. Buy it for your grandchildren but keep it at your house to read OUT LOUD when you are taking life too seriously.

I got this book to read to my five-year-old and she never tires of it, but I think people of all ages will love Flamingos on the Roof. It can be read in small chunks or all the way through. I can't wait to see more work from this author/illustrator. The language is a bit intricate, so if you're buying this for a child to read on their own, I'd say the book is on a third- or fourth-grade reading level.

I heard these poems read over NPR one Saturday morning and enjoyed listening to them so much that I decided to buy three sets for each of my grandchildren. Just delightful to listen to and I hope it will encourage them to read and write more poetry!

I first heard of this book on NPR-"Saturday Edition", and had to buy for my personal library. It's intended for 4th graders, but I've gotten it for my adult friends-for their own pleasure and to read to young visitors.
It's beautifully composed, uplifting and lyrical. Calef Brown is gifted.

We love rhyming stories, and Flamingos on the Roof is no exception. I read a great review about Calef Brown in Wondertime magazine and was not disappointed. Whereas Shel Silverstein is a bit gruesome and crude, Brown's poetry is simple yet creative, fun and silly, and all around great reading with your little one. My 18 mo old loves the iambic pentameter rhythm of the rhyming, and the illustrations are wacky and fun (think Rev Howard Finster naive art). I would love to see him create a longer story someday, as the short poems go by too fast. I'd recommend his books for all ages, little ones and adults.

Though i am now growing older I can still remember the books that captivated me as a child. Now that my children have begun to discover reading I found that Grasshopper Pie is an excellent addition to their book collection and a creative way to nurture and develop their reading skills. The illustrations are also great and help my kids learn and comprehend. I hope both the author and illustrator of this book continue to publish books so that my children and I can enjoy themin the future.
Sincerely,
Boe Guse (new york)

"Grasshopper Pie" is a very good children's book and I highly recommend it. My six-year-old daughter was able to practice her reading skills with it and enjoyed the illustrations very much. My daughter and I are eagerly awaiting the next book Mr. Steinberg and Mr. Sinnott do together.

This book is a wonderful collection of poems for children. I love the illustrations by Adrian Sinnott because they match the writing perfectly. They are silly, fun, and creative. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Shel Silverstien.

The poetry in Grasshopper Pie is wonderful for youngsters just learning how to read. The vivid illustrations drawn by Adrian Sinnott make the whole learning-to-read experience a much more enjoyable and fun one. It was so clever to have a grasshopper hidden on every page!! I am first grade teacher in Boston, and the kids in my class loved reading the book and looking at the pictures. Sinnott really inspired them to get into art and draw on their own.

Grasshopper Pie and Other Poems is a collection of whimsical stories by David Steinberg. Brought to life by cartoonist Adrian Sinnott, the tales and illustrations will captivate children and parents alike. My two daughters loved the Grasshopper chronicles-- from the title story to a tale about an upside-down boy and an "Alien in My Soup." My oldest daughter, age 7, found the cover illustration fun to study, with grasshoppers playfully swimming in the kitchen sink, lounging in the silverware drawer, munching on a blueberry pie, etc. Anyone who has children knows that children love looking at the details of any given drawing and spotting the various activities depicted by the artist (there's a "Where's Waldo?" quality to the cover). As my oldest daughter said, "The drawings are cool and the stories are funny." Thankfully, Grasshopper Pie does not have any politically correct adult moralizing, and instead emphasizes children's imaginations. I recommend Grasshopper Pie for children ages 5 to 8, and for adults who wish to revisit the way they once thought when they were young.

A remarkable tale of Hasidic (Ultra-Orthodox) Jews and the miracles that happened to so many in spite of the ravages of the Holocaust.

A mix of prose and poetry, tears and turbulence, you'll want to read it from cover to cover.

One of the great pieces of literature related to one of the worst times in modern history.

Michael

As far as I know, this book was the first collection of Hasidic responses to the Holocaust to make it out of the "Jewish literary ghetto" and into the mainstream, where it remains a popular read in both Jewish and non-Jewish theological circles. It was also the first collection of stories about Jews who did NOT lose their faith during the Holocaust (most of them, anyway -- there are one or two exceptions in the book.) Prior to this, religious Jews in the Holocaust were portrayed by the media as as "cowards who didn't fight back" rather than the religious martyrs that they were. (Most typical of this anti-religious period is the infamous line from the movie version of Leon Uris's EXODUS: "The only god I believe in is a gun.") I won't go into the politics of it here, but, suffice it to say, the post-Holocaust Zionist movement was more interested in freedom fighters than saints.

The Hasidim, however, had a different view of their suffering during the Holocaust. God had not deserted them, even if He seemed hidden in a time of darkness. The Hasidim were telling their own Holocaust stories around the Sabbath table or at community gatherings but, because most of this telling was oral and in Yiddish, it was unknown to the general public. Enter Yaffa Eliach. As a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College, she began hearing these tales from her students. Brooklyn College had/has a high percentage of Hasidic students and, through them, Eliach got to know their parents and other Holocaust survivors, including some of the Hasidic Rebbes. The result is a fine collection of true Holocaust stories that will forever change the way you view Hasidic Jews. Courage, as this book demonstrates, doesn't always mean grabbing a gun. It can also mean hiding a child, sharing your food when you yourself are starving, or meeting death with your human dignity intact. To maintain one's faith under such adversity, to continue studying Torah and doing the mitzvahs even in a concentration camp -- these were acts of true resistance that shine through every page of this book. I give it ten stars!

This inspiring book is one of the best books writeen on the Holocaust. I read the book every year on Tisha B'av, the Jewish day of national mourning and never cease to be amazed, inspired and touched by the myriad of stories in this wonderful book. This copy is being given as a token of appreciation o someone I wish to thank.

i must say that I am surprised that no reviews I have come across so far adress what appears to me this books most remarkable feature: Its power of inspiring faith. In fact, I would site this book as one of the most concrete proofs of the existence of God in print. Stories of the divine powers that are granted to the compassionate, the devout, and the faithful surpass all description. Please read this book, I treasure it like a scripture, and the courage, profound faith, and integrity of its characters burns in the heart like fire. i have never wept like I wept when I read these simple stories for the first time, and I continue to draw bittersweet emotional sustainance everytime I read and re-read its pages. There is too many brilliant anecdotes to choose examples, But as I write I remeber the story of the boy whose friend apparently died in a forced labour factory. The young man was piled in the frigid cold of night in a pile of corpses after a terrible illness had left no sign of life in him. The grandfather of the boy kept appearing in his friends dream to tell him the his friend must be "woken up". After the third dream, the youth was more frightened of the dream than of risking his life to escape to where the dead were piled to investigate. The youth found his friend amid the corpses, and when he repeated the granfather's invocation to "wake up", he indeed stirred! The story concludes with the boy warming his friend, bringing him to safety, and survival. It is marvelous and breathtaking to discover that these miraculous and spellbinding stories occurred in the darkest heart of humankind's darkest hours, and that they have been compiled in this manner is a fitting tribute to is subjects.

Yaffa Eliach is to be commended for collecting and publishing these tales. They tell stories of Jews who despite horrible trials and sufferings kept their faith in God, and their decency as human beings. The paradox is often that only when human beings are subject to the worse trials do they reveal their greatness. These stories are stories of inspiration not only for Jews but for all of mankind.

Ice Cream Melts takes you on a journey through the minds of various individuals. Nnamdi became these people, pouring out their souls and the turmoil in their lives. Although all different, everyone has a voice, even the pleading baby. Nnamdi's writing speaks volumes. I scream, you scream, we all scream...

EXPRESSING IT ALL!!!!!!

BY: JESSICA DESIR

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ, I HAVE READ A LOT OF BOOKS IN MY TIME BUT THIS ONE WAS GREAT..., I WOULD SAY. IT HAS EVEYTHING A BOOK SHOULD HAVE. TO THE AUTHOR BEST WISHES GREAT WORK.

Nnamdi's writing evokes raw emotion from the reader, and leaves you no choice but to feel the pain, fear, sorrow, loneliness, that he has masterfully translated into words. You're drawn in, and that is what real poetry is all about. I wouldn't expect anything less from one of Brooklyn's finest!

Osuagwu's dancinig literary prose doesn't miss a beat. With each new poem you embark on a short yet deep journey into a reality so real and honest you can relate no matter what walk of life you stride.

Ice Cream Melts is a fabulous complilation of the mundane embued with a novel voice that carries you curiously into the subject of mother, father, daughter, son, lover, professional, prisoner. But so naturally does the author carry each voice that you are intimately carried through gracefully rolling words portraying for you a visual with which you can clearly identify. It is inevitable that with most of the prose here you will find yourself neatly settled into a "hmmm" that is to say "mmmm" in accord or at least in acceptance for you may have been there at one point too.

Truly enjoyable and recommended read!

While reading the poetry of "Ice Cream Melts", presented as short narratives in different voices by Mr. Osuagwu, I felt I was sharing in an intimate adventure with the author. Told from the point of view of a Mother, Father, Daughter, Son, Lover, and others, he relates the experiences of growing up, growing old, falling in love, separation, and abandonment. His honesty is disarming, yet very sweet, as he expresses the joys, the fears, the anger, and the warmth of this family cast.

What is perhaps most striking is that while I felt that I was reading a very personal story, I also felt a much broader reach in the poems. Mr. Osuagwu has managed to include us in his world with his portrayals: these could be the voices of your son, my mother, our friends. Quite an achievement. I enjoyed "Ice Cream Melts" immensely. Very highly recommended.

Why haven't you bought this lovely inspirational poetic journal. You know who you are. This book should be read by you and everyone else who love the Lord and need to hear the Lord's words. Amen.

I LOVE THE ORGINALITY OF THIS BOOK. YOU CAN READ IT ANYTIME OF THE DAY OR NIGHT. WHEN YOUR DOWN OR NOT FEELING WELL, IT WILL CHEER YOU UP. IT'S A NICE BOOK TO READ WHEN YOUR IN A GOOD MOOD. I ALSO LIKE THE WAY THE WRITER HAS A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. I'VE NOT READ A BOOK IN A LONG TIME AND I'M GLAD I BROKE THAT STREAK WITH THIS ONE.

There is something special about the way Ms Liles has been blessed in her writings. Her intense and open communion with God comes through as pure gold, unabashed and shining forth to offer quiet solace to the world's busy and upsetting pace. She writes in a simple,fluid, poetic manner that captivates you and draws you into a relationship with the Master. I have enjoyed reading this poetry and have been inspired.

I thank you and you very much for taking the time to read my first book. Inspired by the Light will show you how to smile even when you don't think you need one. It turns your "I thought, I can't", into "I can do all things through Christ." These inspirational poems will show you how I trust God to do everything in my life. Be Inspired Today! Please order my book from Amazon.com today!! "Comeon" Inspired by the Light will guarantee you a big smile, and you will feel good because you order my smile today. I thank you from my heart to your heart for reading Inspired by the Light.

I am the printer Hanna Liles chose for her new book, "Inspired by the Light." During the time we were negotiating the printing contract, my step-father passed away and Hanna presented me with a poem from her book titled, "Going Home to be with my Heavenly Father." This poem put my feelings in order and I can't thank Hannah enough for helping me through this difficult time.

To read Mary Oliver's The Leaf and the Cloud is to be swept up in a journey that is both intimate and universal at the same time. At once describing, with breathtaking lucidity, the epic beauty and staggering complexity of nature, then suddenly referring to her own humanity with poignant inquisitions, Oliver traverses internal and external environments in an elegant interplay that is, quite simply, addictive.
Not just a "Nature Poet" or "Neo-Romantic", Oliver moves beyond poetry that merely observes nature or draws quaint metaphors from its form, to a new level that celebrates humanity and nature as two parts of an indefinable, mysterious and ultimately beautiful whole.
Their is so much joy in the way in which Oliver describes the world that it is contagious, and you will forever view your surroundings differently as a result of reading this book. It isn't just her exquisite grasp of nature that makes this book so pleasurable, however, it is also the way in which she unravels her own character and story within the natural environment that makes you keep turning the pages.
This was my first encounter with Oliver's work, but certainly not the last. Highly recommended.

In this poem, Mary Oliver walks us through the journey of life and calls
on us to pay attention and see, smell and hear. She asks death to "unstring
my bones,let me be not one thing but all things..."

In these days of violence and blaming of actions on past grievances, Oliver
says of her dead parents,
"I give them-one, two, three, four- the kiss of courtesy
of sweet thanks,
of anger, of good luck in the deep earth.
May they sleep well. May they soften.

But I will not give them the kiss of complicity.
I will not give them the responsibility for my life."

Powerful, strong words.

Mary Oliver is a magnificent, aware voice, speaking in a deep, almost spiritual way. She transforms daily life, a drive, a walk, a look across the fields, into magical, sensitive,moments of awe.

Few works stand across generations lighting the best American writers. Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and Mary Oliver's The Leaf and The Cloud, are two. The difference is that Oliver is alive and working today. I rejoice in her bravery to write the real work, that because it is real, lush, sensual, and drives deep into an open reader's soul like the tendrils of exuberant vines, will likely endure for future generations as long as humans do. Remember that Whitman wasn't completely embraced in his era either, and many opinion makers expecting whatever they were expecting, turned on him as did James Harlan, Secretary of the Interior, after the Civil War.

The best advice is to form your own opinion. Borrow a copy of Mary Oliver's The Leaf and The Cloud, read it. If you respond to it as I have, you will be buying your own copy of a living American legend.

Mary Oliver is amazing. I read this book because it was recommended by my English Lit. prof., and then I loved it and had to go out and buy it. Mary Oliver literally wrote the book on free verse poetry (see, "The Poetry Handbook" by the same author). The way the words flow is beautiful. Even if you don't really like modern poetry, I think you'll fall in love with this long poem.