Welcome to Litsy!

I #5JoysFriday #gratitude

Joys:
1) my kitties. ��⬛😻
2) our magnolia blooms!
3) #porchlife #coffeeandbooks
4)Out town library 🎉☕�📚

We were watching Amanda Gorman talk about her life & perform her poetry in our freshman class today.Our students were mesmerized & immersed in discussing her work. This recent collaboration between Amanda Gorman & Jan Volger( playing Bach on cello)is stunning.
https://youtu.be/pWrCVWfNDf0?si=mSHNVaP3fkojZSs-

This is a beautiful book of poetry and I managed to read it in an hour, forcing myself not to fall asleep though it was late. 2020 was a wild year for the world, especially in America. This book is about that, but through her lens. A pandemic, police brutality, worldwide protests, a shameful and out of control White House occupant, and the most powerful thing of all: hope. The last poem in the book is The Hill We Climb. She made history on⬇�

I know it took me a bit to get to it, but I found it in a used bookstore! Interesting reliving 2020 through poetry, but I just had COVID for the first time in December so actually kind of relevant for me. I am ridiculously impressed with what a great poet Amanda Gorman is. The wordplay and alliteration are so beautiful. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me after many of these poems and certain lines. So clever and provoking.

The wordplay!! From “Compass�

From “In the Deep�

From “The Shallows�

I found this while doing a poetry social media post for the library and decided to check it out because the form poems caught my eye. I liked this collection, which focuses mostly on the events of 2020. Gorman‘s words and form are striking and emotional. Now and then things felt slightly repetitive in tone, but I didn‘t mind because it was an enjoyable collection. I used this as my published in December for #RushathonChristmasBingo. #Poetry

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A moving collection of poems that largely reflects on the early pandemic and humanity's response to isolation and uncertainty. Her poetry captures the grief, despair, and hope we often felt. She also emphasizes that we find strength in unity. The collection ends with the poem she recited at the 2020 inauguration, The Hill We Climb.

#nominatedforgoodreadsaward Last year‘s poetry winner ended up being one of my top books of the year #marchmagic @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I fell in love with Amanda Gorman's words many moons ago. The poems in this book are potent and to the point. They're odes to our humanity. My favorite poem is America (not pictured). I paused and read it twice. Pictured is another favorite called Life.

"Life is not what is promised,
But what is sought."

January #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
#poetrymatters #nonfiction2023

Finally diving into this book. I bought it last January and for some unknown reason never read it.

I have admired Gorman since she read at the inauguration, but reading this collection makes it clear that she‘s a poet to watch. Her playfulness with words leads the reader into a place they might not otherwise be willing to go. A solid pick.

I don't read enough poetry. I really want to work on that.

I read this earlier in the year and fell in love with it. It's such a strong collection. 💚

#adventrecommends @emilyrose_x

Starting the morning with some poetry…

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I needed a break from all the Halloween-themed books, so I spent some time with these powerful poems. #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick #OutstandingOctober @Andrew65

Read this back in February. I've seen it described as a time capsule of 2020 and I agree. Gorman captures and explores many themes that dominated that year. Covid deaths, masks, race riots, etc. Although she's young, her poetry didn't seem like a bunch of tweets, but a well thought out, heavily researched, creative collection of mini-essays written by a much older person who's seen and observed a lot of this world. Highly recommend to everyone!

����� I have not read a book this powerful in a long time. I'm not usually drawn to poetry at all, but I loved her 2021 inauguration poem so I wanted to give this a try. SO glad I did. She deals with the heavy topics of COVID, racism, and white supremacy with words so raw and real that my heart was both broken and mended. I read this on a library ebook, then decided I needed to soak in these words some more so I bought a print copy today. ♥�

So. Much. This. ♥�♥�♥�

♥�♥�♥�♥�♥�♥�♥�♥�♥�♥�♥� (Not sure why Litsy only has the Spanish version listed, but this is from Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman.)

Gorman's lengthy collection reflects her deep appreciation and knowledge of history and her love of language as she searches for hope in the midst of America's racial violence and the coronavirus pandemic (many of the poems were written during that time). Her famous poem from the inauguration closes the collection. Gorman is a gifted poet and clearly a voice to be reckoned with now and in the future.

Mostly quite good poetry. Some like the inauguration poem are great, but others not so much. She's good with wordplay. Pandemic, valuing people, environment, etc. are her themes. I'm not an expert though, but I know what I like. She is quite unique.

I'm going to read this now. I know I'm always a little late on bestsellers! Trying to get into poetry more.

2022 Read Harder Challenge
#12: Read an entire poetry collection

Amanda Gorman is an amazing writer. The way she combines words - using alliteration, juxtaposing similar words (e.g., a jar is ajar) is incredible. This collection takes us through the start of the pandemic until Jan. 20, 2021 where she read her brilliant poem at Biden's inauguration.

I‘m so proud of my husband for gifting me this book at Christmas. He has no idea what I‘ve read (or what I‘ve got stashed away around here) and he came up with this. He did good. I‘m not the best reader of poetry, but these poems were very moving.. looking at the pandemic, BLM, erasure, and so much more. #readmyowndamnbooks

I‘ve never understood why people memorize poetry until this book. It‘s the best poetry I‘ve ever read (I thought- that‘s how I felt!!) so many times while reading Gorman‘s exquisite words. I‘d put this book as one of the best books I‘ve ever read (although that list is kind of long😜).

"When we tell a story,
We are living
Memory."

We are living it... breathing life back into it... letting it dance outside ourselves... I love the idea of this!

"It isn't knowing, but remembering, that makes us create."

So grateful for Amanda Gorman's poetry and for the way she looks at the world.

" [Locked down, the animal may perform the behavior in the same way over & over, at the same time over & over, in the same place, over & over, with the same results. What we're describing is insanity. Or 2020.] "

(I laughed a little at that last part...)

"To care is how we vow
That we are here,
That we are."

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#PoetryMatters @TheSpineView

I love poems written in the shape of an #Object and this was a recent favorite from the tagged book.

This extraordinary poet is one of a kind. Great poetry book 📖 New York Times bestselling author Amanda Gorman. Amanda Gorman is a seeker, a seer, a speaker of the most difficult and astonishing truths. Reading these poems will make you feel. A book of poetry so alive you'll want to hold it, protect it, and read it all at once, and then immediately read it again. Can you relate....

Such a beautiful, poignant collection. Gorman's poetry evoked so many emotions in me and she has such a variety of styles in which she writes.

The comparison in the poetry between our current pandemic and the Spanish influenza outbreak really moved me.

Highly recommend even if you aren't the biggest fan of poetry.

@Kdgordon88 Debra, I LOVE my #BlitsySwap box so much! I wanted both books & had to stop myself from buying them over the holidays. The journal is pretty & you know I adore JA!😉The Amanda Gorman canvas print is so lovely-I can‘t wait to hang it up. Love the pencil bag & matching pencils, the sticker book & the bookmarks. Yogurt pretzels & Moonstruck chocolates are also favorites. THANK YOU! After a looong day this was so amazing to come home to!⬇ï¸�

I love my #Blitsy swap package! Thank you so much! I‘ll be wearing the T-shirt tomorrow and I can‘t wait to add the books to my collection. I‘ve been sharing books with my students at school this month and I know they‘ll love to these additions! I‘ll be reading them first, though!! â�¤ï¸� The cards a great too! I‘ve never seen this set before. Thank you SO much!!
#BHMS
#BlitsySwap

Like many I was captivated by Amanda Gorman at the Inguration. I've listened to the The Hill We Climb many times so I thought audio would be the way to go with this collection. However after a few poems, I switched to print. Audio didn't lend itself to some of the styles of poetry like Shape Poems and whatever you call that when words are spaced far apart on a page.

Favorite Quote:
"To begin again
Isn‘t to go backwards,
But to decide to go."

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What do call this style of poetry? When the words are spread out like this poem entitled Please. #poetry

Really loving this book, but this section of this poem about the pandemic described exactly how I feel sometimes...."Not tumored, just transformed"

#AestheticallyMatched @Clwojick

This is the 4th book on the pandemic I‘ve read, & it‘s definitely the one I‘ve been searching for without realizing! I actually read this twice. My library hold came in on audio first, so I listened to it before I read it. Then halfway through my read I ordered a copy. Amanda Gorman is a great reader, so I always get something new listening to her. But this book has concrete & visual poems, so you‘ll miss a lot if you don‘t see the page layouts.

Book #5 of the year: “Call Us What We Carry� by Amanda Gorman

So many of her poems are about COVID and some of them hit hard. What isn‘t about COVID is about racism or the political landscape of the US. Gorman‘s poetry is incredible but/so be prepared to feel.

My favorites were “_ _ _ _ _ [GATED]�, “Fury & Faith�, and “The Truth in One Nation�.

Picture of my current reading situation ��