100 Best Poetry Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Milk and Honey

Rupi Kaur

5.0

Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.

The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because ther

2

The Sun and Her Flowers

Rupi Kaur

4.9

Preview Summary

Hand Signed by Rupi Kaur. Exclusive Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is included. First Print - First Edition Hardcover. The Sun and Her Flowers Hardcover (No Signed Copy sticker on cover). A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. Ancestry and honorin

3

Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein

4.8

Shel Silverstein shook the staid world of children's poetry in 1974 with the publication of this collection, and things haven't been the same since. More than four and a half million copies of Where the Sidewalk Ends have been sold, making it the bestselling children's poetry book ever. With this and his other poetry collections (A Light in the Attic and Falling Up), Silverstein reveals his genius

Recommended by Sheryl Sandberg.

4

The Odyssey

Homer

4.6

After enduring the Trojan War, Odysseus begins the treacherous journey home to Ithaca. On the way, he faces ravenous monsters and vengeful gods. But the real battle awaits, as his kingdom is under siege by unruly suitors vying for his wife’s hand—and his son’s head. To reclaim his throne and save his family, Odysseus must rely on his wits…and help from the unpredictable gods.

Homer’s The Odyssey wa

Recommended by Caterina Fake, Ted Turner, Charlotte Higgins, and 3 others.

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Charlotte Higgins

It’s a very easy read, and a completely different world from The Iliad. Whereas The Iliad depicts a militaristic and war-wrecked world, The Odyssey is like a fairytale and it’s fascinatingly complex. It’s told in flashbacks, it has time that’s extended and time that’s compressed, and it’s told from different viewpoints. [source]

Janine di Giovanni

The thing I loved about Ulysses was that he’s so in love with adventure and with love. [source]

5

The Princess Saves Herself in this One (Women are Some Kind of Magic, #1)

Amanda Lovelace and ladybookmad

4.5

"Ah, life- the thing that happens to us while we're off somewhere else blowing on dandelions & wishing ourselves into the pages of our favorite fairy tales."

A poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of h

6

A Light in the Attic

Shel Silverstein

4.5

Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:

Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...

This 20th anniversary of Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic includes a CD of highlights from his Grammy Award-winning albu

Cover unavailable

7

Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition

Walt Whitman, American Renaissance Books

4.5

When Walt Whitman self-published "Leaves of Grass" in 1855, he rocked the literary world and forever changed the course of poetry. In subsequent editions, Whitman continued to revise and expand his poems--but none matched the raw power and immediacy of the first edition. This beautifully designed volume presents the 1855 "Leaves of Grass" in its entirety, unchanged, along with Ralph Waldo Emerson'

Recommended by Kevin Kelly.

Kevin Kelly

While reading this classic poetic ode to America and possibilities ('I am multitude!') my gasket blew, and I became seized with an unstoppable urge to travel. [source]

8

The Iliad

Homer, Robert Fagles, Bernard Knox

4.4

Dating to the ninth century B.C., Homer’s timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to the wrenching, tragic conclusion of the Trojan War. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb introduction that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and re

Recommended by Ted Turner, Charlotte Higgins, Daniel Mendelsohn, and 2 others.

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Charlotte Higgins

I think The Iliad has much to say to politicians now – it’s completely clear-eyed about collateral damage, about problems of post-conflict and about the ghastly things that happen to women and children in war. [source]

Daniel Mendelsohn

There are always new translations of The Iliad coming out, but this one has a very specific approach, both in terms of its philosophy of translation and its approach to the text. [source]

9

Ariel

Sylvia Plath

4.4

Sylvia Plath's celebrated collection.

When Sylvia Plath died, she not only left behind a prolific life but also her unpublished literary masterpiece, Ariel. Her husband, Ted Hughes, brought the collection to life in 1966, and its publication garnered worldwide acclaim. This collection showcases the beloved poet’s brilliant, provoking, and always moving poems, including "Ariel" and once again shows

Recommended by Tim Kendall.

Tim Kendall

The restored Ariel is a volume of rebirth and hope: it begins with the word love and ends with spring. We sometimes caricature Plath as some kind of doom-laden depressive. That’s absolutely not what the trajectory of Ariel conveys. [source]

Cover unavailable

10

Howl and Other Poems

Allen Ginsberg

4.4

Recommended by Darren Aronofsky.

Darren Aronofsky

A cry from the ‘60s for his generation. At least that’s the way I took it. [source]

11

The Essential Rumi

Jalal al-Din Rumi

4.4

This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems.

Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever.

The Es

Recommended by Adam Robinson, Adam Robinson, and Zainab Salbi.

Adam Robinson

The author’s gotten me in touch with the mystical, and the mysterious, and the magical in life. [source]

Adam Robinson

The author’s gotten me in touch with the mystical, and the mysterious, and the magical in life. [source]

Zainab Salbi

In the evolution of my journey I learned that the way that we can transform women’s lives and our lives generally is not necessarily only through the warrior’s ways. I do not deny the warrior’s ways. I have ridden the horse and carried the armour! But as I evolve in my own growth I have learnt that the way we can truly achieve transformation and change is through our own inner peace. It is through seeing our inner joy and inner happiness and through love. [source]

12

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

4.4

Preview Summary

One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent

Recommended by Arianna Huffington, Naval Ravikant, Chip Conley, and 12 others.

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

I find this book so inspirational and instructive, it lives on my nightstand. [source]

Chip Conley

I have given this book away to a number of people. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

13

Citizen: An American Lyric

Claudia Rankine

4.3

A provocative meditation on race, Claudia Rankine's long-awaited follow up to her groundbreaking book Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric.

Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the cl

Recommended by Cheryl Strayed and Jeremy Noel-Tod.

Cheryl Strayed

A really important book for us to be reading right now. [source]

Jeremy Noel-Tod

Obviously, it’s been admired and acclaimed, but I do feel the general reception of it has underplayed its artfulness. Its technical subtlety and overall arrangement has been neglected, because it has been classified as a kind of documentary work. [source]

14

Beowulf

Seamus Heaney

4.3

Beowulf is a major epic of Anglo-Saxon literature, probably composed between the first half of the seventh century and the end of the first millennium. The poem was inspired by the oral tradition Anglo-Saxon and Germanic transcribed a verse epic, recounting the exploits of Beowulf hero who gave his name to the poem, on which are grafted chretiens additions.

Cover unavailable

15

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson, Thomas H. Johnson

4.3

THE ONLY ONE-VOLUME EDITION CONTAINING ALL 1,775 OF EMILY DICKINSON’S POEMS

Only eleven of Emily Dickinson’s poems were published prior to her death in 1886; the startling originality of her work doomed it to obscurity in her lifetime. Early posthumously published collections-some of them featuring liberally “edited” versions of the poems-did not fully and accurately represent Dickinson’s bold expe

Recommended by Daegan Miller.

Daegan Miller

She embraces desperation, but does not give in. [source]

16

Falling Up

Shel Silverstein

4.3

Millie McDeevit screamed a scream
So loud it made her eyebrows steam.
She screamed so loud
Her jawbone broke,
Her tongue caught fire,
Her nostrils smoked...

Poor Screamin' Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings by the creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; D

17

Paradise Lost

John Milton

4.3

In Paradise, God’s favored new creations—Adam and Eve—live in bliss, untainted by sin. In another realm, Satan and his banished rebel angels collude to destroy God’s tranquil new design. Into this idyll called Earth, and the confidence of Adam and Eve, Satan will instigate the fall of man.

At the heart of this complex, audacious epic poem is a drama driven by the most recognizable human flaws. More

Recommended by Emily Wilson and Stephen Greenblatt.

Emily Wilson

Paradise Lost is a homecoming story of marital breakup and martial reunion, just as the Odyssey is. They’re also both epics about redefining a community in the wake of a devastating war, and about whether there will ever be an end to war. [source]

Stephen Greenblatt

Milton’s astonishing intervention in the Adam and Eve story includes thinking how it was possible—not for ignorant children, but knowing, thoughtful, complex human beings in a relationship with one another—to do what they did. [source]

18

Shakespeare's Sonnets

William Shakespeare

4.3

The secret of their identities has fueled debate for hundreds of years: Who are the nameless nobleman and the dark-haired mistress? And what did they do to inspire the creation of more than 150 deeply intimate poems?

Whether William Shakespeare’s sonnets are pure fiction or the lingering echo of an autobiographical account, this exquisitely written collection defied traditional love poem convention

19

The Giving Tree

Shel Silverstein

4.3

"Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy."

So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and

Recommended by Kaci Lambe Kai, Neal Layton, and Todd Gordon.

Kaci Lambe Kai

I cry every time I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. That story breaks my heart. I recently read it to my nephew (then five at the time) and I cried the whole time. [source]

Neal Layton

It’s a book full of questions, about a boy and a tree, but whether there are any answers there or not is another thing. [source]

Todd Gordon

I got to spend lunch with this wonderful group of 5 yr olds reading The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein. Great book and good lesson about the value of friendship! (note, I have permission to post this). https://t.co/HahANdNYpq [source]

20

The Prophet

Kahlil Gibran

4.3

Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.

The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chap

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Daylon Soh, Jason Nemer, and 3 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

It actually read like a modern-day poetic religious tome. Up there with the Bhagavad-gita, the Tao Te Ching, The Bible, The Qur’an. It was written in that style where it had that feel of religiosity and truth, but it was very approachable and beautiful and non-denominational and non-secretarian. I really liked that. I loved that book. He has a gift for poetically describing what children are like, what lovers are like, what marriage should be like, how you should treat your enemies and your friends, how you should work with money, what can you think of every time you have to kill something to eat it. I felt, like the great religious books, it gave a very deep, very philosophical, but very true answer to how to approach the major problems in life. I recommend The Prophet to anybody, whether you’re religious or not. Whether you are Christian or Hindu or Jewish or Atheist. I think it’s a beautiful book, and it’s worth reading. [source]

Daylon Soh

The non-business book that has connected to my being most deeply would be poems in The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. [source]

Jason Nemer

I love really condensed, shakti empowerment-filled, energy-filled statements - something that you can read in a few minutes or you can read for your whole life. [source]

21

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

Pablo Neruda, W. S. Merwin, Cristina Garcia

4.3

When it appeared in 1924, this work launched into the international spotlight a young and unknown poet whose writings would ignite a generation. W. S. Merwin's incomparable translation faces the original Spanish text. Now in a black-spine Classics edition with an introduction by Cristina Garcia, this book stands as an essential collection that continues to inspire lovers and poets around the world

Cover unavailable

22

The Poems of Robert Frost: Poetry for the Ages

Robert Frost

4.3

The only comprehensive gathering of Frost's published poetry, this affordable volume offers the entire contents of his eleven books of verse, from A Boy's Will (1913) to In the Clearing (1962). Frost scholar Lathem, who was also a close friend of the four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, scrupulously annotated the 350-plus poems in this collection, which has been the standard edition of Frost's work si

Recommended by Aimée Lyn Inhc.

Aimée Lyn Inhc

I never had anyone give me a book that means so much. A beautiful gift from an angel I love to help me on my path. https://t.co/BpB7wIYN3o [source]

23

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

T. S. Eliot, Edward Gorey

4.3

T. S. Eliot's playful cat poems have delighted readers and cat lovers around the world ever since they were first published in 1939. They were originally composed for his godchildren, with Eliot posing as Old Possum himself, and later inspired the legendary musical Cats.

Recommended by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Heidi N. Moore.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

39 years ago Andrew came across a book which became the foundation for one of the most celebrated musical productions in history! In just shy of 11 days that creation will be hitting the big screens for you all of you to enjoy. - Team ALW https://t.co/B282r7tVMi [source]

Heidi N. Moore

This list of heart emoji, in order to be a true found poem, must be read with the same spirit and intonation as Sir John Gielgud and Irene Worth voicing TS Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats https://t.co/P95pwSJMd2 [source]

24

The Poet X

Elizabeth Acevedo and Quill Tree Book

4.3

A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to s

25

Salt

Nayyirah Waheed

4.3

26

The Collected Poems

Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes

4.3

The aim of the present complete edition, which contains a numbered sequence of the 224 poems written after 1956 together with a further 50 poems chosen from her pre-1956 work, is to bring Sylvia Plath's poetry together in one volume, including the various uncollected and unpublished pieces, and to set everything in as true a chronological order as is possible, so that the whole progress and achiev

Recommended by Tim Kendall.

Tim Kendall

What Plath most often wrestles with is a sense that, as the metaphor of a bell jar suggests, she’s seeing the world through glass. She’s trapped. She’s constrained. She knows that there’s something greater within her, but it can’t break through. She’s struggling; she’s puzzled. To borrow one of her titles as a metaphor, she’s writing ‘stillborn’ poems. [source]

27

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri

4.3

"Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them, there is no third." T. S. Eliot

"Ciardi has given us a credible, passionate persona of the poet, stripped of the customary gauds of rhetoric and false decoration, strong and noble in utterance." Dudley Fitts

"A sensitive and perceptive translation;a spectacular achievement." Archibald MacLeish

Belonging in the immortal company of the great works o

Recommended by A N Wilson.

A N Wilson

I don’t think there’s anything in world literature to compare with the last few cantos of the Paradiso as a Christian statement. [source]

Cover unavailable

28

The Complete Stories and Poems

Edgar Allan Poe

4.3

This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary history.

Cover unavailable

29

Les Fleurs du Mal

Charles Baudelaire and Richard Howard

4.3

Presents the first American translation of the complete text of Baudelaire's 1857 masterwork and includes the complete original French texts for easy comparison.

30

The Waste Land and Other Poems

T. S. Eliot

4.3

Few readers need any introduction to the work of the most influential poet of the twentieth century. In addition to the title poem, this selecion includes "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", "Gerontion", "Ash Wednesday", and other poems from Mr. Eliot's early and middle work.

"In ten years' time," wrote Edmund Wilson in Axel0s Castle (1931), "Eliot has left upon English poetry a mark more unmis

31

Night Sky with Exit Wounds

Ocean Vuong

4.3

Ocean Vuong's first full-length collection aims straight for the perennial "big"—and very human—subjects of romance, family, memory, grief, war, and melancholia. None of these he allows to overwhelm his spirit or his poems, which demonstrate, through breath and cadence and unrepentant enthrallment, that a gentle palm on a chest can calm the fiercest hungers.

Recommended by Helen Mort.

Helen Mort

I’d say this was my book of the year. It was such a revelation. [source]

Cover unavailable

32

Inferno

Dante Alighieri

4.2

This work is designed as an introduction to Dante's Inferno. With this in mind, Longfellow's poetic translation has been juxtaposed side by side with a prose version -- the poem for enjoying the poetry without the interruption of footnotes; the prose for delving more deeply into various aspects of the work.

Most of the footnotes are taken from various translations and commentaries (listed below), s

Recommended by Chris Walsh and Nick Havely.

Chris Walsh

The Inferno is the classic moment of people not wanting to talk about cowardice. [source]

Nick Havely

It is a close and reliable translation, with the original text on the facing page, and it also has excellent notes. [source]

Cover unavailable

33

Crush

Richard Siken, Louise Glück

4.2

Richard Siken’s Crush, selected as the 2004 winner of the Yale Younger Poets prize, is a powerful collection of poems driven by obsession and love. Siken writes with ferocity, and his reader hurtles unstoppably with him. His poetry is confessional, gay, savage, and charged with violent eroticism. In the world of American poetry, Siken's voice is striking. In her introduction to the book, competiti

34

A Thousand Mornings: Poems

Mary Oliver

4.2

The New York Times-bestselling collection of poems from celebrated poet Mary Oliver

In A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has come to define her life’s work, transporting us to the marshland and coastline of her beloved home, Provincetown, Massachusetts. Whether studying the leaves of a tree or mourning her treasured dog Percy, Oliver is open to the teachings contained in

35

Brown Girl Dreaming

Jacqueline Woodson

4.2

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touchi

Recommended by Barack Obama.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

In November 2014, Obama took a trip to D.C. independent bookstore Politics and Prose to honor small businesses and add to his personal library. Accompanied by daughters Malia and Sasha, POTUS picked up novels from the Redwall fantasy series by Brian Jacques, as well as some from the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park. He also added this title to his heavy bags. [source]

36

1984

George Orwell

4.2

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

With extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity, George Orwell’s 1984 takes on new life in this hardcover edition.

“Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker

In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania

Recommended by Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Emma Watson, and 16 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

called this book "one of his favorite" and recommended it to the hires. The book also inspired one the greatest TV ad (made by Jobs) [source]

Andra Zaharia

These books and their core ideas have stuck with me the most and continue to guide me when I hit crossroads along the way. [source]

37

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

Anne Carson

4.2

From poet and classicist Anne Carson comes this translation of the work of Sappho, together with the original Greek. Carson presents all the extant fragments of Sappho's verse, employing brackets and white space to denote missing text - allowing the reader to imagine the poems as they were written.

Recommended by Bettany Hughes and Lydia Ruffles.

Bettany Hughes

This is a collection of fragments of Sappho’s poems. They are so beautiful, I would recommend them to anyone. [source]

Lydia Ruffles

Fragments [source]

Cover unavailable

38

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth

Warsan Shire

4.2

What elevates 'teaching my mother how to give birth', what gives the poems their disturbing brilliance, is Warsan Shire's ability to give simple, beautiful eloquence to the veiled world where sensuality lives in the dominant narrative of Islam; reclaiming the more nuanced truths of earlier times - as in Tayeb Salih's work - and translating to the realm of lyric the work of the likes of Nawal El Sa

Cover unavailable

39

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

4.2

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere") is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. Modern editions use a later revised version printed in 1817 and featuring a gloss. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry an

Recommended by Seamus Perry.

Seamus Perry

It’s not just a poem about terrible things that happen, it’s a poem about how you remember terrible things that happen, narrativise them, and try to make sense of them. [source]

Cover unavailable

40

The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats, Richard J. Finneran

4.2

The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats includes all of the poems authorized by Yeats for inclusion in his standard canon. Breathtaking in range, it encompasses the entire arc of his career, from luminous reworking of ancient Irish myths and legends, to passionate meditations on the demands and rewards of youth and old age, from exquisite, occasionally whimsical songs of love, nature, and art to somber

Cover unavailable

41

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #2)

Amanda Lovelace, ladybookmad

4.2

The witch: supernaturally powerful, inscrutably independent, and now—indestructible. These moving, relatable poems encourage resilience and embolden women to take control of their own stories. Enemies try to judge, oppress, and marginalize her, but the witch doesn’t burn in this one.

Cover unavailable

42

Love & Misadventure

Lang Leav

4.2

Lang Leav is a poet and internationally exhibiting artist. Awarded a coveted Churchill Fellowship, her work expresses the intricacies of love and loss.

Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully conceived, Love and Misadventure will take you on a rollercoaster ride through an ill-fated love affair- from the initial butterflies to the soaring heights- through to the devastating plunge. Lang Leav has

Cover unavailable

43

No Matter the Wreckage

Sarah Kay, Sophia Janowitz

4.2

Following the success of her breakout poem, "B," Sarah Kay releases her debut collection of poetry featuring work from the first decade of her career. No Matter the Wreckage presents readers with new and beloved work that showcases Kay's knack for celebrating family, love, travel, history, and unlikely love affairs between inanimate objects ("Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire"), among other curious t

Cover unavailable

44

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe, Gustave Doré

4.2

In Gustave Doré, one of the most prolific and successful book illustrators of the late 19h century, Edgar Allan Poe's renowned poem The Raven found perhaps its most perfect artistic interpreter. Doré's dreamlike, otherworldly style, tinged with melancholy, seems ideally matched to the bleak despair of Poe's celebrated work, among the most popular American poems ever written.
This volume reprints al

Cover unavailable

45

The Waste Land

T. S. Eliot and Michael North

4.2

The text of Eliot's 1922 masterpiece is accompanied by thorough explanatory annotations as well as by Eliot's own knotty notes, some of which require annotation themselves.

For ease of reading, this Norton Critical Edition presents The Waste Land as it first appeared in the American edition (Boni & Liveright), with Eliot's notes at the end. "Contexts" provides readers with invaluable materials on T

46

Autobiography of Red

Anne Carson

4.2

The award-winning poet Anne Carson reinvents a genre in Autobiography of Red, a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional re-creation of an ancient Greek myth and a wholly original coming-of-age story set in the present.

Geryon, a young boy who is also a winged red monster, reveals the volcanic terrain of his fragile, tormented soul in an autobiography he begins at the a

47

Letters to a Young Poet

Rainer Maria Rilke

4.2

Born in 1875, the great German lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke published his first collection of poems in 1898 and went on to become renowned for his delicate depiction of the workings of the human heart. Drawn by some sympathetic note in his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes. From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young, would-be poe

Recommended by Estella Ng and Todd Henry.

Estella Ng

Letters to a Young Poet - it is everything. … This line in Letters to a Young Poet “If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches" is an important one to me. I constantly go back to this to evaluate if I have been living a full life. [source]

Todd Henry

A book of mentorship for young artists. [source]

48

New and Selected Poems, Volume One

Mary Oliver

4.2

Features previously published and new poems that explore the natural world and how it is connected to human beings and spirituality.

Recommended by Cheryl Strayed.

Cheryl Strayed

I love so many poets; this author is one of my favorites. [source]

Cover unavailable

49

Songs of Innocence and of Experience

William Blake

4.2

Songs of Innocence and of Experience is an illustrated collection of poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases. A few first copies were printed and illuminated by William Blake himself in 1789; five years later he bound these poems with a set of new poems in a volume titled Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.

50

Pillow Thoughts

Courtney Peppernell

4.1

Make a cup of tea and let yourself feel.

Pillow Thoughts is a collection of poetry and prose about heartbreak, love, and raw emotions. It is divided into sections to read when you feel you need them most.

Cover unavailable

51

The Complete Poems

Anne Sexton

4.1

From the joy and anguish of her own experience, Sexton fashioned poems that told truths about the inner lives of men and women. This book comprises Sexton's ten volumes of verse, including the Pulitzer Prize-winner Live or Die, as well as seven poems from her last years.

52

The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke

Rainer Maria Rilke, Stephen Mitchell, Robert Hass

4.1

Parallel German text and English translation.

The influence and popularity of Rilke’s poetry in America have never been greater than they are today, more than fifty years after his death. Rilke is unquestionably the most significant and compelling poet of romantic transformation, of spiritual quest, that the twentieth century has known. His poems of ecstatic identification with the world exert a se

Cover unavailable

53

The Aeneid

Virgil, Robert Fitzgerald

4.1

The Aeneid is an epic poem written by Virgil in the 1st century BC. It's hero is Aeneas, a Trojan who travels from Troy to Italy to eventually found Rome. Some argue that The Aeneid is Virgil's answer to Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, combining two genres of the day - travel and war - into one poem. Take that, Homer!

No civilization is without a bit of revisionist history: so it was that Virgil picked

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Ryan Holiday, Ted Turner, and 2 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

Oh, it’s not a favorite book or anything like that, I just added it because I liked it. I don’t think there’s any real significance to the fact that it’s listed there and other books aren’t. But there are definitely books—like the Aeneid—that I enjoyed reading a lot more. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I made an effort to read some classical poets and playwrights this year. The Aneiad was far and away the most quotable, readable and memorable of all of them. There’s no other way to put: the story is AMAZING. Better than the Odyssey, better than Juvenal’s Satires. Inspiring, beautiful, exciting, and eminently readable, I loved this. I took more notes on it that I have on anything I’ve read in a long time. [source]

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Cover unavailable

54

100 Selected Poems

e. e. cummings

4.1

E.E. Cummings is without question one of the major poets of the 20th century, and this volume, first published in 1959, is indispensable for every lover of modern lyrical verse. It contains one hundred of Cummings’s wittiest and most profound poems, harvested from thirty-five of the most radically creative years in contemporary American poetry. These poems exhibit all the extraordinary lyricism, p

55

Metamorphoses

Ovid, David Raeburn, Denis Feeney

4.1

Prized through the ages for its splendor and its savage, sophisticated wit, The Metamorphoses is a masterpiece of Western culture--the first attempt to link all the Greek myths, before and after Homer, in a cohesive whole, to the Roman myths of Ovid's day. Horace Gregory, in this modern translation, turns his poetic gifts toward a deft reconstruction of Ovid's ancient themes, using contemporary id

Cover unavailable

56

The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas, Paul Muldoon

4.1

The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas contains poems that Thomas personally decided best represented his work. A year before its publication Thomas died from swelling of the brain triggered by excessive drinking.

Since its initial publication in 1953, this book has become the definitive edition of the poet’s work. Thomas wrote “Prologue” addressed to “my readers, the strangers” — an introduction in

Recommended by Steve Jobs and Frieda Hughes.

Frieda Hughes

Yes, let’s. I love a ‘collected poems’ because it gives you everything, so it’s very good value for money! [source]

57

Long Way Down

Jason Reynolds

4.1

An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-y

Cover unavailable

58

Love Her Wild

Atticus

4.1

The first collection of poetry by Instagram sensation Atticus.

Love Her Wild is a collection of new and beloved poems from Atticus, the young writer who has captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of avid followers on his Instagram account.

In Love Her Wild, Atticus captures what is both raw and relatable about the smallest and the grandest moments in life: the first glimpse of a new

59

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

Samin Nosrat

4.1

Now a Netflix series WINNER OF THE FORTNUM & MASON BEST DEBUT FOOD BOOK 2018 Sunday Times Food Book of the Year and New York Times bestseller While cooking at Chez Panisse at the start of her career, Samin Nosrat noticed that amid the chaos of the kitchen there were four key principles that her fellow chefs would always fall back on to make their food better: Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat. By mastering

Recommended by Ben Silbermann, Cameron Strang, and Yashar Ali.

Ben Silbermann

I enjoy cooking, and this book taught me a lot of the basics of flavor and cooking technique. [source]

Cameron Strang

@bobgoff Cohen read non-stop and finished the book in 4 days. He said Love Does for Kids is his favorite book ever! We’ve talked about so many of the stories and lessons. Now his teacher asked if she could borrow it to read the book to the class. He’s SO proud. Bob, for real, thank you!! [source]

Yashar Ali

Something incredible happened last week As Iran was silencing an entire nation by shutting off the internet, a great book by an Iranian author @CiaoSamin went to #1 on the NYT bestsellers list for the 1st time Her book was published nearly 3 years ago! https://t.co/1RAzmgxvEf https://t.co/1ztY4BTTk6 [source]

60

Inward

Yung Pueblo

4.1

“i closed my eyes to look inward and found a universe waiting to be explored”

From poet, meditator, and speaker Yung Pueblo, comes a collection of poetry and prose that explores the movement from self-love to unconditional love, the power of letting go, and the wisdom that comes when we truly try to know ourselves. It serves as a reminder to the reader that healing, transformation, and freedom are

61

Four Quartets

T.S. Eliot

4.1

The Four Quartets is a series of four poems by T.S. Eliot, published individually from 1936 to 1942, and in book form in 1943; it was considered by Eliot himself to be his finest work. Each of the quartets has five "movements" and each is titled by a place name -- BURNT NORTON (1936), EAST COKER (1940), THE DRY SALVAGES (1941), and LITTLE GIDDING (1942). Eliot's insights into the cyclical nature o

62

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

4.1

Tolstoy's epic novel of love, destiny and self-destruction, in a gorgeous new clothbound edition from Penguin Classics. Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously

Recommended by Chelsea Handler, Marvin Liao, Audrey Russo, and 5 others.

Chelsea Handler

I don't know if I have to expound on why I love this book, but everyone should read this author, and this was the first one of his works I read. So, it's like a first boyfriend. Or my first Cabbage Patch Kid. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Audrey Russo

Question: What books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path? Answer: Anything by Peter Senge. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz Once you are Lucky, Twice you are good – Sara Lacey Revolutionary Wealth – Alvin Toffler Black Swan – Taleb Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen Pao. Creative Class – Richard Florida Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis American Government 101: From the Continental Congress to the Iowa Caucus, Everything You Need to Know About US Politics – Kathleen Spears The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Any book by Herman Hesse The Art of War by Sun Tzu. [source]

Cover unavailable

63

Don't Call Us Dead

Danez Smith

4.1

Award-winning poet Danez Smith is a groundbreaking force, celebrated for deft lyrics, urgent subjects, and performative power. Don't Call Us Dead opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved here on earth. Smith turns then to desi

64

Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver

4.1

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver presents a personal selection of her best work in this definitive collection spanning more than five decades of her esteemed literary career.
Throughout her celebrated career, Mary Oliver has touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things. Identified

65

The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer, Nevill Coghill

4.1

The procession that crosses Chaucer's pages is as full of life and as richly textured as a medieval tapestry. The Knight, the Miller, the Friar, the Squire, the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, and others who make up the cast of characters -- including Chaucer himself -- are real people, with human emotions and weaknesses. When it is remembered that Chaucer wrote in English at a time when Latin was the

Recommended by Marion Turner.

Marion Turner

Each individual tale can be interpreted in so many ways—Chaucer really opens up possibilities of multiple interpretations. Even when he seems to give you a clear moral, that moral is never effective or convincing. He’s always saying: ‘Find your own moral; find your own meaning.’ [source]

66

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky

4.1

The Brothers Karamasov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons―the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays t

Recommended by Randall Stephenson, Adam Townsend, Christian B Miller, and 3 others.

Randall Stephenson

CEO/AT&T

Favorite book: The Brothers Karamazov. [source]

Adam Townsend

@FinchmanWill @jposhaughnessy @Cernovich @mcclay_roman My son's favorite book of all time [source]

Christian B Miller

A host of deep philosophical questions are at work in the book: about, say, the existence of God, the nature of morality without God, and the role of free will. [source]

67

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

4.1

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in

Recommended by Richard Branson, Bianca Belair, and Julia Enthoven.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Bianca Belair

For #BlackHistoryMonth I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 5th Book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By: Maya Angelou Another autobiography classic that will be hard to not find on any must- read book list! https://t.co/mGRG76lLRn [source]

Julia Enthoven

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is beautifully written, and I really enjoy the voice of the protagonist and think it’s sad and fascinating to read about her time in history. [source]

68

Just Kids

Patti Smith

4.1

In Just Kids, Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has t

Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Emma Watson, Seth Godin, and 3 others.

Malcolm Gladwell

Writer & Journalist

I finished it in one sitting, then wept. It's that good. [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

This is the single best audiobook ever recorded by Patti Smith. It is not going to change the way you do business, but it might change the way you live. It's about love and loss and art. [source]

Academic Batgirl

This book helped me to see how my life as an academic is artful and creative, and gave me renewed faith in embracing risks, innovation, and taking on art with love and strength even when it’s frustrating or “success” is not assured. Recommend! 8/end https://t.co/tkWtSVY6b9 [source]

Cover unavailable

69

Lullabies

Lang Leav

4.1

A sequel to the hugely popular, best-selling Love & Misadventure, Lullabies continues to explore the intricacies of love and loss.

Set to a musical theme, love's poetic journey in this new, original collection begins with a Duet and travels through Interlude and Finale with an Encore popular piece from the best-selling Love & Misadventure. Lang Leav's evocative poetry speaks to the soul of anyone w

Cover unavailable

70

Love That Dog (Jack, #1)

Sharon Creech

4.1

"I guess it does
look like a poem
when you see it
typed up
like that."

Jack hates poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, won't stop giving her class poetry assignments -- and Jack can't avoid them. But then something amazing happens. The more he writes, the more he learns he does have something to say.

71

Collected Poems, 1909-1962

T. S. Eliot

4.1

There is no more authoritative collection of the poetry that T.S. Eliot himself wished to preserve than this volume, published two years before his death in 1965.

Poet, dramatist, critic, and editor, T. S. Eliot was one of the defining figures of twentieth-century poetry. This edition of Collected Poems 1909-1962 includes his verse from Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) to Four Quartets (1943)

Recommended by M C Beaton.

M C Beaton

A lot of his poetry has gone into general usage. Being a city person, I also like the atmosphere of the city, of London, the descriptions of fog that I remember from my youth. [source]

72

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Tupac Shakur

4.1

Tupac Shakur's most intimate and honest thoughts were uncovered only after his death with the instant classic The Rose That Grew from Concrete.

His talent was unbounded -- a raw force that commanded attention and respect.
His death was tragic -- a violent homage to the power of his voice.
His legacy is indomitable -- as vibrant and alive today as it has ever been.

For the first time in paperback, t

Cover unavailable

73

رباعيات خيام

Umar Khayyam and Kazem Bargnaysi

4.1

The rubaiyat are a series of poems or 'stanzas' by the famous 12th century Persian atronomer and philosopher

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Persian: رباعیات عمر خیام) is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and numbering about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám (1048–1131), a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer. A

Cover unavailable

74

Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems

Billy Collins

4.1

Sailing Alone Around the Room, by America’s Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, contains both new poems and a generous gathering from his earlier collections The Apple That Astonished Paris, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, and Picnic, Lightning. These poems show Collins at his best, performing the kinds of distinctive poetic maneuvers that have delighted and fascinated so many readers. They

Cover unavailable

75

Depression & Other Magic Tricks

Sabrina Benaim

4.1

Depression & Other Magic Tricks is the debut book by Sabrina Benaim, one of the most-viewed performance poets of all time, whose poem "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" has become a cultural phenomenon with over 5,000,000 views.

Depression & Other Magic Tricks explores themes of mental health, love, and family. It is a documentation of struggle and triumph, a celebration of daily life and of

Cover unavailable

76

The Complete Poems 1927-1979

Elizabeth Bishop

4.1

Elizabeth Bishop was vehement about her art--a perfectionist who didn't want to be seen as a "woman poet." In 1977, two years before her death she wrote, "art is art and to separate writings, paintings, musical compositions, etc., into two sexes is to emphasize values in them that are not art." She also deeply distrusted the dominant mode of modern poetry, one practiced with such detached passion

Recommended by Sinéad Morrissey.

Sinéad Morrissey

She is absolutely true to observed experience and she’s extremely wary of the grand rhetorical gesture. She’s kind of a quiet poet and I think her language is intensely beautiful. [source]

Cover unavailable

77

Her

Pierre Alex Jeanty

4.1

"Her" is a collection of poetry and prose about women, their strengths and beauty. Every woman should know the feelings of being loved and radiating those feelings back to her mate. This is a beautiful expression of heartfelt emotion using short, gratifying sentiments. If there is a lover in you, you will not get enough of "Her."

78

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Dr. Seuss

4.0

Grow your heart three sizes and get in on all of the Grinch-mas cheer with the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas-the ultimate Dr. Seuss Christmas classic that is perfect for read-alongs all year round!

Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot . . . but the Grinch, who lived just north of Who-ville, did NOT!

Not since "'Twas the night before Christmas" has the beginning of a Christmas

Recommended by Gary Bury and Seth Mandel.

Gary Bury

Truthfully, I have 3 young kids so don’t get much time to read other than to my kids at bedtime. So you’ll understand when I say my favourite books are Children's books by Dr Seuss, they’re a joy to read and cover a range of social and political issues with an elegance and simplicity that exceeds many adult books. The anti materialism/ consumerism ‘Grinch Who Stole Christmas’ and ‘The Lorax’ about environmentalism are favourites in our house. [source]

Seth Mandel

@kampeas My favorite Dr. Seuss book has always been The Grinch Owns The Libs [source]

Cover unavailable

79

The Complete Collected Poems

Maya Angelou

4.0

For the first time, the complete collection of Maya Angelou's published poems-including "On the Pulse of Morning"-in a permanent collectible, handsome hardcover edition.

Cover unavailable

80

Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jonny Sun

4.0

From the creator and star of Hamilton, with beautiful illustrations by Jonny Sun, comes a book of affirmations to inspire readers at the beginning and end of each day.

Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos!

Before he inspired the world with Hamilton and was catapulted to international fame, Lin-Manuel Mirand

Recommended by Arianna Huffington and Todd Nesloney.

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

Clearing a place on my bedside table for @Lin_Manuel’s new book Gmorning, Gnight! Love the illustration of the bed on the cover! https://t.co/qkSxdvpjke [source]

Todd Nesloney

I love this little book from @Lin_Manuel! Great daily pick me ups. Get yours here: https://t.co/JTKgA3h2s1 #SparksInTheDark #affiliatelink #tellyourstory #kidsdeserveit https://t.co/mFut4gG8kg [source]

Cover unavailable

81

The Collected Poems

Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad

4.0

"The ultimate book for both the dabbler and serious scholar--. [Hughes] is sumptuous and sharp, playful and sparse, grounded in an earthy music--. This book is a glorious revelation."--Boston Globe

Spanning five decades and comprising 868 poems (nearly 300 of which have never before appeared in book form), this magnificent volume is the definitive sampling of a writer who has been called the poet l

82

The Night Before Christmas Pop-Up

Clement Clarke Moore, Robert Sabuda

4.0

This classic tale of The Night Before Christmas is brought to life by Sabuda's imaginative and inventive pop-ups.

Recommended by Igreth the Elf.

Igreth the Elf

A lovely pop-up edition of the classic Christmas poem [source]

83

Dog Songs

Mary Oliver

4.0

A collection of new and favorite poems, celebrating the dogs that have enriched the poet’s world

Beloved by her readers, special to the poet’s own heart, Mary Oliver’s dog poems offer a special window into her world. Dog Songs collects some of the most cherished poems together with new works, offering a portrait of Oliver’s relationship to the companions that have accompanied her daily walks, warm

84

The Crossover

Kwame Alexander, Corey Allen, et al

4.0

"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I'm delivering," announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade nov

Cover unavailable

85

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories

Tim Burton

4.0

From breathtaking stop-action animation to bittersweet modern fairy tales, filmmaker Tim Burton has become known for his unique visual brilliance – witty and macabre at once. Now he gives birth to a cast of gruesomely sympathetic children – misunderstood outcasts who struggle to find love and belonging in their cruel, cruel worlds. His lovingly lurid illustrations evoke both the sweetness and the

Recommended by Tom McLaughlin.

Tom McLaughlin

If I could have written any book, I would have written this. [source]

Cover unavailable

86

E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962 (Revised, Corrected, and Expanded Edition)

E. E. Cummings, George James Firmage

4.0

At the time of his death in 1962, E. E. Cummings was, next to Robert Frost, the most widely read poet in America. Combining Thoreau's controlled belligerence with the brash abandon of an uninhibited bohemian, Cummings, together with Pound, Eliot, and William Carlos Williams, helped bring about the twentieth-century revolution in literary expression. He is recognized on the one hand as the author o

Cover unavailable

87

Selected Poems

EMILY DICKINSON

4.0

Emily Dickinson was born into a prominent New England family. Sociable as a child, she grew increasingly withdrawn, and in later years became known as a recluse.

Only seven of her poems were published during her lifetime. After Emily's death in 1886, her sister Lavinia discovered 1,775 poems bound in small packets tied with thread.

They were first published in 1890, attracting unexpected attention

88

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Annie Dillard

4.0

An exhilarating meditation on nature and its seasons—a personal narrative highlighting one year's exploration on foot in the author's own neighborhood in Tinker Creek, Virginia. In the summer, Dillard stalks muskrats in the creek and contemplates wave mechanics; in the fall she watches a monarch butterfly migration and dreams of Arctic caribou. She tries to con a coot; she collects pond water and

Recommended by Laura Dassow Walls and Sara Maitland.

Laura Dassow Walls

She’s enacting Thoreau, but in a 20th-century context: she takes on quantum physics, the latest research on DNA and the nature of life. [source]

Sara Maitland

This book, which won the Pulitzer literature prize when it was released, is the most beautiful book about the wild. [source]

Cover unavailable

89

The Complete Poems

John Keats

4.0

90

Dr. Seuss's Beginner Book Collection (Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on

Dr. Seuss

4.0

A perfect gift for new parents, birthday celebrations, and happy occasions of all kinds, this collection of five beloved Beginner Books by Dr. Seuss--"The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, "and "Fox in Socks"--will be cherished by young and old alike. Ideal for reading aloud or reading alone, they will "begin "a child on the adventure of a lifeti

Cover unavailable

91

The Road Not Taken and Other Poems

Robert Frost

4.0

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

These deceptively simple lines from the title poem of this collection suggest Robert Frost at his most representative: the language is simple, clear and colloquial, yet dense with meaning and wider significance. Drawing upon everyday incidents, common situations and rural imagery, Frost fash

Cover unavailable

92

The Universe of Us

Lang Leav

4.0

Lang Leav presents a completely new collection of poetry with a celestial theme in The Universe of Us.

Planets, stars, and constellations feature prominently in this beautiful, original poetry collection from Lang Leav. Inspired by the wonders of the universe, the best-selling poetess writes about love and loss, hope and hurt, being lost and found. Lang's poetry encompasses the breadth of emotions

Cover unavailable

93

Life on Mars

Tracy K. Smith

4.0

You lie there kicking like a baby, waiting for God himself
To lift you past the rungs of your crib. What
Would your life say if it could talk?
—from “No Fly Zone”

With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to accompany the discoveries, failures, and oddities of human existence. In these new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi f

94

Bluets

Maggie Nelson

4.0

Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color...

A lyrical, philosophical, and often explicit exploration of personal suffering and the limitations of vision and love, as refracted through the color blue. With Bluets, Maggie Nelson has entered the pantheon of brilliant lyric essayists.

Maggie Nelson is the author of numerous books of poetry and nonfiction, including Someth

Cover unavailable

95

I Wrote This For You (I Wrote This For You #4)

pleasefindthis, Iain S. Thomas, Jon Ellis

4.0

I need you to understand something. I wrote this for you. I wrote this for you and only you. Everyone else who reads it, doesn’t get it. They may think they get it, but they don’t. This is the sign you’ve been looking for. You were meant to read these words.

96

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Anonymous

4.0

Andrew George's "masterly new translation" (The Times) of the world's first truly great work of literature

Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as much as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is the world’s oldest epic, predating Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh’s adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of t

Recommended by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Cave.

Ryan Holiday

Author

I read this on my honeymoon (probably the only person on the beach reading it, if I had to guess). Especially when I learned after that a new introduction paragraph had been discovered only recently. His tomb may have been found recently too. Imagine if Homer’s works had only been discovered in the mid 1800’s after being lost to history for thousands of years. How crazy would that be? Reading the classic epics can feel like work but there is value in it. These works are timeless and universal. Such a great line [source]

Stephen Cave

Gilgamesh is a hero in the ancient mould. He’s half-god, enormously strong, a bit randy, a bit dim, and he goes through adventures which embody the human experience writ large. He starts off as the king of a small kingdom, making a nuisance of himself – enforcing droit du seigneur, sleeping with women on their marriage night, pushing other men around, being a bit of an arse. So the gods make a rival to him in strength, a wild man. They fight, realise neither can win, then become best friends and go off on all sorts of adventures. They kill all sorts of ogres and beasts, until the gods think this is getting a bit much and decide Gilgamesh’s friend has to die. [source]

Cover unavailable

97

Collected Poems

Philip Larkin, Anthony Thwaite

4.0

One of the best-known, best-loved poets of the English-speaking world, Larkin had a relatively small number of poems published during his lifetime. This Collected Poems, which J. D. McClatchy called a fascinating and indispensable text in The New York Times Book Review, brings together not only all of Larkin's published verse--The North Ship (1945), the pamphlet of XX Poems (1953), The Less Deceiv

Recommended by Arnold Jansen and Ian McEwan.

Arnold Jansen

This is another one I had with me on my tour of duty. [source]

Ian McEwan

There are many writers of my age who are steeped in Larkin and, like me, incorporate the cadences of his lines, often without being aware of it. [source]

Cover unavailable

98

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson, Rachel Wetzsteon

4.0

Dickinson’s poetry is remarkable for its tightly controlled emotional and intellectual energy. The longest poem covers less than two pages. Yet in theme and tone her writing reaches for the sublime as it charts the landscape of the human soul. A true innovator, Dickinson experimented freely with conventional rhythm and meter, and often used dashes, off rhymes, and unusual metaphors—techniques that

Recommended by Caterina Fake.

Cover unavailable

99

Shout

Laurie Halse Anderso

4.0

A searing poetic memoir and call to action from the bestselling and award-winning author of Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson!

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twe

Cover unavailable

100

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda, Ilan Stavans

4.0

The most comprehensive English-language collection of work ever by "the greatest poet of the twentieth century - in any language" - Gabriel García Márquez

"In his work a continent awakens to consciousness." So wrote the Swedish Academy in awarding the Nobel Prize to Pablo Neruda, the author of more than thirty-five books of poetry and one of Latin America's most revered writers, lionized during his