Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

This is a list of books of poetry (or related to poetry) that I've read in 2011. I'll keep adding to the list as I read them.

1. Tenderness: Poems, by Joyce Carol Oates
2. Sleeping With Houdini, by Nin Andrews
3. Carpathia, by Cecilia Woloch
4. Seeing Birds in Church is a Kind of Adieu, by Arlene Ang
5. Shadow Ball: New and Selected Poems, by Charles Harper Webb
6. A Wave: Poems, by John Ashbery
7. What Narcissism Means to Me, by Tony Hoagland
8. Pretty Young Thing: Poems, by Danielle Pafunda
9. The Long Night of Flying, by Sharon Olson
10. Refuge, by Belle Waring
11. Dark Blonde, by Belle Waring
12. Opulent Hunger, Opulent Rage, by Leslie McGrath
13. Theories of Falling, by Sandra Beasley
14. Unglobed Fruit, by Esther Greenleaf Murer
15. The Alphabetical Atheist, by Andrew Rihn
16. Horse Playing the Accordion, by Elizabeth Smither
17. I Was the Jukebox, by Sandra Beasley
18. Salt Memory, by Jennifer K. Sweeney
19. How to Be Perfect, by Ron Padgett
20. The End of Dreams, by Floyd Skloot
21. Versed, by Rae Armantrout (*****)
22. Facts About the Moon, By Dorianne Laux
23. The Book of Men, by Dorianne Laux
24. Fire & Flower, by Laura Kasischke
25. Lines of Flight, by Catherine Chandler
26. Horoscopes for the Dead, by Billy Collins
27. Different Hours, by Stephen Dunn
28. Heaven and Earth, by Majmudar Amit
29. Hot Sonnets, ed. Moira Egan and Clarinda Hariss
30. Rust Fish, by Maya Jewell Zeller
31. Days Like These, by Robert Riche
32. Anterooms, by Richard Wilbur
33. Dick of the Dead, by Rachel Loden
34. The Last Kiss, by George Bilgere
35. Up To Speed, by Rae Armantrout
36. Pure Elysium, by Michael Meyerhofer
37. Haywire, by George Bilgere
38. The White Museum, by GeorgEe Bilgere
39. Excuse Me While I Wring This Long Swim Out of My Hair, by Sarah Sloat
40. Next Life, by Rae Armantrout
41. Best American Poetry 2011
42. Life on Mars, by Tracy K. Smith
43. The Correct Spelling and Exact Meaning, by Richard Jones
44. Veil: New and Selected Poems, by Rae Armantrout
45. Standing Around the Heart, by Gary Fincke
46. Come Thief, by Jane Hirshfield
47. Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty, by Tony Hoagland
48. Gulf Music, by Robert Pinsky

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RELATED READING IN 2011

Feb. 26: The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets in Discussion and Practice. This isn't a poetry collection, per se, but it does contain nearly 80 prose poems along with short essays by the poets: The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets in Discussion and Practice. Edited by Gary L, McDowell and F. Daniel Rzicznek. My review with lots of quotes and excerpts here.

March 26: I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way We See the World, by James Geary, includes, but is not limited to, the use of metaphor in art. It would probably be of interest to poets and people who appreciate poetry. My review is here.

March 20: The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, by Richard Hugo. My review here.

April 19: The Art of Recklessness, by Dean Young

May 28: A Journey With Two Maps: Becoming a Woman Poet, by Eavan Boland

July 26: Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry by David Orr. I really enjoyed this, though read it somewhat skeptically and feel that something's left out of this analysis. I need to reread a bit and hope to write a short review.

Hi Toni! I've never read Joyce Carol Oates' poems. That's interesting.
Yes, please post whatever reviews you want - I saw your Sleeping With Houdini review the other day. That'd be a good one.
thanks for joining us

Oates was rather disappointing. I prefer her prose by a lot. (Heard her read from her new memoir a couple of weeks ago and she was superb.) Will get some reviews posted soon.

I also was not aware Oates writes poetry. Several of your listed books/authors are favorites of mine, so I'm interested in your response to their work.

I'm not sure there's anything that Oates hasn't written! :)

I've been editing my original post with additional books read. I didn't write a review of Boland's A Journey With Two Maps. I was surprised that it didn't grab me more than it did. I think it has generally received a lot of praise. Anyway, I have a like-new hardcover that I'll send to the first person who asks.

I'm not a huge fan of Boland either (and I live in Germany so I won't ask!). I have often removed books from the list of those I intended to read and review because I didn't have anything terribly constructive or enlightening to say about them. Totally kosher.

Ha ha. I was wondering about the postage to Germany. If you want it, I can send it to your mother for the next package or trip. :)

PS: S, I got a taker for this -- but in the future, if I can direct books your way via mom, let me know.

I've just updated my list (in the first post here), since I've read quite a few poetry books since May. I hope to get back and review at least a few of these. Of the last few, I'd say my faves were Rae Armantrout, George Bilgere, and Rachel Loden.

List updated, December 5. Of the last few, I most liked Armantrout and Hirshfield.

My goal was to read 100 books this year (a range of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & criticism). If I make it (not sure yet -- am working on #92), looks like half of them will be poetry.

I did meet my New Year's goal of 100 books, finishing Book #100 on December 25th. 48 were books of poetry; 6 were related to poetry in some way. The other 46 comprised fiction, memoir, and other nonfiction.