M. Suzanne Terry

April is National Poetry Month. Most of the bookish newsletters I follow are making great poetry recs at this time, so naturally, I am even more inclined than usual to pick up a few new volumes or chapbooks. If this post looks a little poetry-centric, that’s why. Also, you’re welcome.

First of all, my beloved friend courtney marie just released their newest collection, Songs We Used to Dance To, which I highly recommend that you buy and read immediately. Treat yourself to this wonder of a book.

Book Clubs

• Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
• The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry (already finished, but I’ll review favorites from it for discussion)
• Choose your own adventure with poetry for Follow the Reader (see lush selections below)
• Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
• Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
• Ancestor Trouble by Maud Newton

Reading Challenges

• Read Harder – Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde by Alexis de Veaux (read a biography of an author you admire)
• Girlxoxo – The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace (keyword: burn)
• 52 Book Club – Goldenrod by Maggie Smith (related to the word “gold”)
• POPSUGAR – My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing or The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (cutlery on the cover or in the title)

Lush Reads

All about poetry. Practically going to bathe in it. Perhaps while listening to jazz (as it’s also National Jazz Appreciation Month) and drinking glasses of wine.

• Bestiary by Donika Kelly
• How To Identify Yourself With a Wound by KB Brookins
• Hood Criatura by féi hernandez
• Extratransmission by Andrea Abi-Karam
• Index of Women by Amy Gerstler
• Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
• The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward
• The Hungry Ear, edited by Kevin Young
• Counting Descent by Clint Smith
• Neruda’s Garden: An Anthology of Odes by Pablo Neruda
• Eat This Poem by Nicole Gulotta
• Coming to That by Dorothea Tanning
• Migratory Sound by Sara Lupita Olivares
• The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich (not poetry but very on-theme anyway)

Library

So many books, so little extra shelf space in my living room.

• Spring by Ali Smith
• Forget Prayers, Bring Cake by Merissa Nathan Gerson
• And The Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman
• Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George