a few more bests

The 2020 best-of posts keep showing up, so here are a few more for your reading list:

• Amanda Earl – Vizpo Dahlings of 2020
• Largehearted Boy – Favorite poetry collections of 2020
• Literary Hub – Booksellers Recommend: The Best Under-the-Radar Books of 2020
• Seattle Public Library – 2020 Poetry Revisited

last best for 2020

While the year’s best-of selections may continue into the early months of 2021, this will be our final post for 2020 and the latest collection of favorites.

• Boston Globe – Best Books of 2020
• Hyperallergic – This Be the Verse: Our Favorite Poetry Books of 2020
• Literary Hub – Rabih Alameddine’s Year in Reading: Poetry Edition
• Morning Star – Best of 2020: Poetry
• The Paris Review – The Paris Review Staff’s Favorite Books of 2020
• PEN America – Literary Awards longlist
• School Library Journal – 2020 Children’s Poetry

Happy reading… and Happy New Year!

Best-of, round 3

Here’s another batch of the best for 2020:

• CBC – The best Canadian poetry of 2020
• The Irish Times – Best poetry books of 2020: New discoveries and final gifts (available to subscribers only)
• Kirkus – Best Picture-Book Poetry of 2020
• Literary Hub – The Best Reviewed Books of 2020: Poetry Collections
• The New York Times – Best Poetry of 2020
• Poetry School – Poetry Books of the Year 2020
• Publishers Weekly – Best Books 2020: Poetry

What’s on your best-of-2020 list?

Best-of, round 2

Here’s another batch of best-of-2020 books. Some lists mix the genres together, so you have to browse or search for the poetry — but they all include poetry and some of the same titles appear on list after list.

• Book Riot – Best Books of 2020
• Esquire – The Best Books to Elevate Your Reading List in 2020
• Five Books – The Best Poetry Books of 2020
• The Guardian – The best books of 2020 – picked by our acclaimed guest authors
• Goodreads Choice Awards 2020 – Best Poetry
• Library Journal – Best Poetry of 2020
• Literary Hub – Our 65 Favorite Books of the Year
• The Undefeated – Our 25 can’t-miss books of 2020

If these recommendations inspire you to shop, please support independent bookstores!

Best-of season!

Let it begin! We’ve been tracking recommendations all year long and now it’s time for the pundits to weigh in on the best poetry books of 2020. Here is the first round of top titles:

• Financial Times – Best books of 2020: Poetry
• The Guardian – Best poetry books of 2020
• The New York Public Library – Introducing NYPL’s Best Books of 2020
• The New York Times Book Review – 100 Notable Books of 2020
• The Telegraph – The best poetry books of 2020
• The Washington Post – Best poetry collections of 2020

noteworthy

If, in your weeks of isolation, you’ve managed to burn through the poetry books on your shelves, here are more, from various reliable sources:

• Bustle: National Poetry Month required reading
• CBC: 29 works of Canadian poetry
• The Guardian: the best recent poetry
• League of Canadian Poets: The Many Gendered Other Reading List
• The New York Times: new this week

Happy reading!

what’s new?

Best-of season is hardly over before the poetry pundits begin to weigh in on the must-read volumes for the new year. Here are a few recommendations:

• Book Riot: 6 Poetry Books for a More Comforting Start to 2020, by Dee Das
• The Guardian – The best recent poetry – review roundup, by Ben Wilkinson
• Independent – 10 best poetry books for World Poetry Day 2020, by Emma Lee-Potter
• The Millions – Must-Read Poetry: January 2020, by Nick Ripatrazone. Here is Nick Ripatrazone’s selection for February 2020. And here is his March 2020 list.
• The New York Times – New & Noteworthy Poetry Books, by Geneva Abdul
• NPR – Keeping The Dark At Bay: A 2020 Poetry Preview, by Craig Morgan Teicher

Happy reading!

Best-of, number 5

This may be the last best-of post for 2019, or maybe not:

• LitHub
• LitHub (best of the decade!)
• The New York Times
• WBUR (best of Boston)

Happy reading!

Best-of, no. 4

The book recommendations just keep on keepin’ on. Here’s the fourth round:

• CBC
• Electric Literature
• Good Reads
• Irish Times
• NPR here and here
• 2020 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists

Best of 2019, no. 3

Here’s the third round of bests for 2019:

• Autostraddle
• The Guardian (different list)
• GQ
• The Listener (New Zealand)