Poetry Books

Wonderful voyeuristic thrill of reading other people's lover letters, without the shame or guilt. But even more than that, this book will pull you into the world of the lover and the loved. Makes a great read, and would be an excellent gift. Read it in bed together, just like Carrie and Big did!

Great Book. Well written. History fans will enjoy this book as well. Can't wait until volume 2 is written.

This book is a wonderful collection of deep and inspiring feelings of love and intimacy. There are many beautiful heart warming letters, as well as tragic stories of love gone awry. It's truly astonishing to have a voyeuristic look into the real lives and souls of writers, presidents and explorers we have heard about since childhood. This is not just made up, but real life (and real love), with all its twists and turns. There is an immense range of letters and feelings, all of them enjoyable to read. I love reading a new one every night

I have seen the "Sex and the City" movie several times. This book has all the love letters that Carrie and Big read each other in the movie. It looks to me like the book that Carrie reads in bed. Maybe the book was just inspired by the movie, which came out the same day. Either way, this book is very beautiful and romantic.

I especially enjoyed learning the details of each writer's life. It's amazing how passionate some of our greatest leaders really were. I also love the illustrations, which make me feel like I'm going back in time.

My favorite letter was from John Keats, who (I learned from reading the book) died from consumption at the tender age of 26. While separated from his true love in his dying days, he wrote:

"You could not step or move an eyelid but it would shoot to my heart--I am greedy of you--Do not think of any thing but me. Do not live as if I was not existing--Do not forget me--But have I any right to say you forget me? Perhaps you think of me all day.

"Have I any right to wish you to be unhappy for me? You would forgive me for wishing it, if you knew the extreme passion I have that you should love me--and for you to love me as I do you, you must think of no one but me, much less write that sentence. Yesterday and this morning I have been haunted with a sweet vision--

"I have seen you the whole time in your shepherdess dress. How my senses have ached at it! How my heart has been devoted to it! How my eyes have been full of tears at it! Indeed I think a real Love is enough to occupy the widest heart--Your going to town alone, when I heard of it was a shock to me--yet I expected it--promise me you will not for some time, till I get better. Promise me this and fill the paper full of the most endearing names."

Amazing, heartbreaking, wonderful! Have to stop now, and go read it again

Before I read this book, I always had a stereotype about men, that it is not easy for them to express their feelings. This book has reversed my impression. In fact, a man can fluently convey passion to his loved one. Each love letter in this book was like a complex of musical notes, that accelerated the most affectionate feelings when I was reading it. Some letters gave me cheers; and others gave me tears. I would wonder to whom each love letter was written, and what's their love story? In this book, the author gives the circumstance, an explicit background to satisfy those wonders. It is so well written that I am not only recommending it to men, but also to women. No matter how strongly we desire to be loved, we will not fulfill it unless we believe there can be someone who loves us so endlessly and unconditionally. This book gives me that assurance. Fabulous book to read.

Each of Billy Collins's new books outdoes its predecessor. It's refreshing
to read and understand contemporary poetry in these days of poets attempting to show us how intelligent they are at the expense of their humanity. There is never any of that with Collins's work. Straightforward poems with fresh metaphor and simile are his trademark. After reading any of his collections I am always looking forward to more. One can become addicted to his wit and irony.

Richard Brown

I am one of these people who discovered Billy Collins when I bought his previous poetry collection, "The Trouble With Poetry". I loved that collection so much I re-read it again as soon as I had finished reading it the first time around. Finally, a poet who made sense! I eagerly awaited publication of his new book, but I was very disappointed with "Ballistics". The book isn't bad, so many readers might enjoy it, but Collins comes across as full of himself and his witty remarks fall flat.

The poems in the first two "chapters" of the book are quite ordinary, I felt, after the first signature poem about the reader, which was very good (Collins always starts his collections with such a poem). I was shocked when I realized that the poem "Ballistics", which gives the book its title, describes the author's joy at recognizing, in a photograph, the book of a competitor (a poet he doesn't like) being pierced by a bullet. I felt that type of attitude was unseemly coming from the most popular poet of his generation (and most popular by a landslide on top of that). He is selling many more copies and is a lot better off than his rivals. Does he really need to gloat? Quality picks up at chapter 3, and the good poems you might have read excerpts of in magazines or reviews come from that part of the book (chapter 3 and later): "On the death of a next-door neighbor" and "Baby listening", for instance.

But Collins can't help mention in another poem that he has a girlfriend he is driving to at 7.45am on a weekday because he has decided to sleep with her, and she'll arrive at work "shortly before noon" because of that, but hopefully her boss will like Proust and as a result forgive her. Uh, what? Collins stopped being a teenager a while ago and would do well to remember that little detail.

All in all, there are some good poems but it looks like the poet's success is going to his head. If you really want to buy the book, buy it when it comes out in paperback.

When I recently heard Billy Collins read several of the poems from this new collection, he was compared, both in the printed material and by the person who introduced him, to Robert Frost in that both writers have the "rare combination of critical acclaim and broad popular appeal," a dubious comparison at best since I can think of six or eight other contemporary poets who would fall into that category as well. I certainly am not suggesting that Mr. Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003, is not a fine poet; that he is. He just sounds nothing like Robert Frost nor any other poet for that matter. His poetry does, however, fit Frost's definition of poetry as beginning in delight and ending in wisdom. I was reminded once again that except in the rarest cases that no one reads poetry as well its author and that poetry should always be read aloud.

Mr. Collins writes with charm and humor about the most ordinary of subjects. "This Little Piggy Went to the Market" is all about playing with children. Animals float in bathtubs in "Bathtub Families." And in the poem "Ballistics" for which this volume is named, the poet imagines that in the high-speed photograph of a bullet piercing a book, that the "executed book/was a recent collection of poems written by someone of whom I was not fond."

In addition to these poems that will make you smile, often written with tongue in cheek, many of Mr. Collins' poems would fit his description of poetry as giving form to misery while others fall somewhere in between these two extremes. I would nominate the thoughtful "An Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant" as one of those where Collins is glad that he resisted the temptation as a young poet to write about a lonely old man eating in a restaurant. Now he finds the food delicious, the light "which falls through the big windows this time of day italicizing everything it touches --" and his enjoyment of reading a "book --Jose Saramago's BLINDNESS as it turns out --" and the smiling waitress (the poet says he learned the proper use of the dash from Emily Dickinson).

Mr. Collins can say volumes in few carefully chosen words as in the poem entitled "Divorce."

Once, two spoons in a bed,
now tined forks

across a granite table
and the knives they have hired.

Then there is the darker poem "A Dog on His Master" where the dog hopes that his master understands that he in all probability will outlive his dog.

Finally my favorite poem of so very many is "On the Death of a Next-door Neighbor" which begins with the following lines:

So much younger and with a tall, young son
in the house above ours on a hill,
it seemed that death had blundered once again.
Was it poor directions, the blurring rain,
or the too-small numbers on the mailbox
that sent his dark car up the wrong winding driveway?

Surely, it was me he was looking for --

If these lines do not put chills on your spine, you have to be like the next-door neighbor. A wondrously beautiful poem.

Where the Sidewalk Ends 30th Anniversary Edition poems and drawings my children loves it and i would tell everyone to read it.

I purchased this book for my grandchildren. I enjoyed reading this book
my children, they loved it. I can't wait to reread it to little loves!It is the greatest don't hesitate to purchase it for your little ones!

I find this book to be wonderful in ways I don't have words for, my grandmother read me this book when i was young enough to not know how to read it to myself, and it has remained my favorite ever since, ( I'm 25 now ) its interesting to see the differences between having it read to me back then and reading it now. I see the ramifications of some of the poems now, that i of course missed as a child, things like no more war, and love for everyone, truly one of the best books of all time

A collection of poems unlike any others. Many times I can't understand the poems I read and it is frustrating, but not with this one. I actually enjoyed it and would recommend it to any parent. Great book.

Anna del C.
Author of "The Elf and the Princess"
and "Trouble in the Elf City"
The Elf and The Princess: The Silent Warrior Trilogy - Book One (The Silent Warrior Trilogy)

A completely magical collection! The imagination and wit of Shel Silverstein never ceases to amaze me as he does anything to make kids laugh (and, to my eternal gratitude) educate them.

Make no mistake, the man is too intelligent to be just silly. There is intelligence to each and every poem, even if it is ust the word structure.

As a teacher, I best appreciate this due to the different ages it reaches. I found myself reading my class one poem only to end if half way do to semi-mature content (come on, it's first grade, they can't hear everything).

Shel Silverstein is the Man.

The moral of the story is touching, its a great gift to give a parent.

I just read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for the first time. Now, I do remember having the book read to me at the public library when I was little, and I am pretty sure it was featured in Reading Rainbow, so the story is not new to me. However, since this is the first time I ever read the story on the other side of parenthood, I was surprised by my overwhelming emotional reaction to the book. I read it as a bedtime story to my two lovely girls and I wept for the brief interval of time where I can help form them as young Christian ladies.

More surprising to me than my emotional response, was how I understand the Tree much better now. As a child, I guess I pitied the tree and sympathized with the boy. I simply expected that the Tree enjoyed helping the boy so the Tree was happy. Now I know that the Tree did enjoy helping the boy, but that the Tree suffered as the boy grew since the boy grew further away. I guess The Giving Tree taught me the lesson of love which I only absorb intellectually from the tree of the cross. Successful love, like successful parenting, involves suffering. The better I do my job of raising my daughters into mature, independent ladies, the more I will miss these years of providing everything for them.

Reprinted with permission from http://naturalfamilylife.blogspot.com

Really, I believe this is a fantastic piece of work and a tribute to the genius that is Shel Silverstien. But I also always have to wonder about the ambiguous message of the story and is truly meant. There is so much contraction. Clearly the tree represents love, but she completely gives of herself entirely for so little. The debate is indeed the charm, though.

i bought this as a gift for a friend of mine who is always the person giving everything they have to others, it is a great story and if you havent read it, please do, it is truly wonderful

Every child and adult should have this book.

There are many controversies about The Giving Tree, many will write that it is a self-less act of love, an issue with co-dependency, or may even send a bad example of relationships with creating selfish children/adults.

I think one of the greatest things about this story is that you can interpret it differently at evolving life stages.

From a child who sees a self-less act of love to an adult who has been in a troubled relationship (much like the tree and the boy).

Regardless, I believe that this story clearly shows 2 sides of A relationship, and if the the reader feels bad for the tree - it is a way to learn how to appreciate and recognize such unconditional love. To always be thankful.

I am not a tech savvy individual and I get frustrated having to scroll through many pages to get to the chapter and verse I want to read. Time is a precious commodity, and this kindle version of the King James Bible has just given me more bible reading time! No more endless back and forth scrolling, the navigation is easy-to-use and takes me where I want to go in just a few clicks.

When I first used my Kindle, I inadvertently downloaded the wrong KJV. It had no table of contents and to get to the New Testament I had to turn every single page. I wasn't through the first chapter in Genesis when I realized the futility of my task. I began a more thorough search for a Bible that was more "user friendly." This one caught my attention because Diana Mecom, the lady who formatted this version, offered to send a sample of it. I requested it and was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal note from Ms. Mecum which instructed me in how to transfer it from my computer to my Kindle. The sample was ample. It gave me Old and New Testament books to experiment with. I bought it and am delighted with it. I was extremely impressed with Ms. Mecom's kindness and follow-up on this transaction. I highly recommend this version of the greatest story ever told. STLemos

This was one of the easiest books to navigate through that I have ever seen because it emulates the hardcopy. In fact, it's better because I don't have to keep paging and paging to get to where I want to read. Instead, each chapter or individual book is just a click away. This decreases my frustration which increases my enjoyment. Thank you, it's fantastic.

This offers book and chapter navigation - without such an ebook of this size is useless. I have tried a number and this is by far the best and worthy of 5 stars. Also includes a previous and next link on each chapter so you can easily navigate to the next. Great formatting of each page.

This was the 3rd or 4th purchase I made when I received my Kindle. I was pretty hesitant that the Kindle version of the Holy Bible would be as good of quality as an original paper copy. I took a few minutes to see if I could navigate through the books and chapters with ease. I am pretty critical when it comes to a Bible in terms of what I want and expect. But after a few short minutes of searching through the text, I had forgotten that I was actually reading the Kindle version. It is very impressive. I am enjoying having the Holy Bible at my fingertips. I have given this 5 stars...for the simple reason that I notice nothing different between my Kindle version and my favorite hard copy of the Holy Bible. A perfect addition to my newly expanding Kindle Library.

I chose Identical from several choices based on the summary of the storyline posted here on Amazon, expecting a riveting read that takes the reader on a wild ride through the mind. It did just that. There are some things in this book that put me off, but there was some good found here too.

I have never read anything by Ellen Hopkins, so this book was a bit of a shock to me. I did not expect everything to be written in poetic form, and I found that it sometimes added to the storyline but sometimes it was distracting too. I especially liked some of the hidden bylines that appeared in the structure and format, particularly in the transitions between Kaeleigh's and Raeanne's thoughts.

Though in poetic form, this book frequently reads like a pair of journals written by two entirely different girls, though they are supposed to be identical twins. I enjoyed the back-and-forth transitions between them, and I liked the entirely different directions the two sisters take. It is a fascinating study in just how different sisters can be. One is a hellion, experimenting with all kinds of drugs and hanging with the wrong crowd. The other is reserved and wanting so much to be loved but unable to escape the specter of being an abused daughter.

There were a couple of things I did not like about this book. First and foremost, I think the descriptions of the incest described within the pages are a little too graphic for my tastes, and I found myself a bit disgusted at times. The other problem is that I found the story to be somewhat predictable, having figured out a critical aspect of the story 2/3 of the way though. Making the conclusion I did, it made the rest of the book somewhat less interesting to me, though I still enjoyed the read.

I can't call this a stellar book though I cannot call it a flop either. It is a decent read, and if you can handle some graphic descriptions of a VERY improper relationship then this book may be for you. I was put off by the descriptions of such and my rating of the book suffers accordingly.

My daughter has been an Ellen Hopkins fan for some time. I researched her online when my daughter began asking me for a book called CUT...I just couldn't imagine that this would be good reading for my 15 yr. old. I found on Hopkin's website that she actually is very involved with students, and has recommendations from teachers. I've never been one to censor reading, so I bought the book...and my daughter has been a fan ever since~~reading books with controversial titles such as Crank, Cut, Glass, Burned...I've tried to read them myself, and find the pull...hence my choosing to read Identical. Ms. Hopkins writes in a prose format, almost like reading a journal written as poems. I have a hard time imersing myself in the stories, and the disturbing images that they bring to mind. But they DO bring the images...and the story of Identical pulls you in...you're almost to horrified to quit reading, compelled to find out what secret Kaeleigh and Raeanne have. You're horrified by the sexual abuse Kaeleigh is the victim of, repulsed by the bulemia, drugs, sex that Raeanne inflicts upon herself. You read the story through the eyes of both girls...and see the indiffernce they're suffering from the own mother, the cries for help that aren't heeded...
While this book and this author aren't the type of reading I'd choose for myself, there is no denying Ms. Hopkins is supremely talented, and willing to take on issues that will move, repulse and have you gasping that such things actually take place. Would I recommend this for a 14 year old? No. I wish my daughter had never picked up that first book. But in a society that many of these things are reality, I guess I have to face up to the fact that she knows, and the books help her get it into perspective.

I am currently finishing this novel and I have loved it so far, Yes its morbid and totally disturbing. But if you have read any of Hopkins other novels you would know that she doesn't really make "sunny happy bubble" books she makes stories that have profound, disturbing and unfortunately for some of todays youth real life problems. And also if you read all or any of her other books...you would know they are all written in poetry form. I enjoy the change from normal novel form, its quicker paced and so beautifully poetic (No puns intended).

This novel centers on twins:

Kaleigh is shy and introverted and sometimes it seems afraid of her own shadow due to a horrible secret that she is hiding deep inside herself a secret that sneaks through the shadows of her bedroom and settles its beady disgusting eyes on her body willing to break her spirit and steal her beautiful soul for its own twisted pleasure. But something inside her is changing...strength and a need for true love is starting to break out. Will she stand up for herself and stop her own torment?

Raeanne is loud,tough and strong. She drinks, does drugs and has promiscuous sex to fill a void inside her...she too holds a secret, a strong desire to rebel against her better half out of jealousy for a sick need from Kaleigh's own monster. Is she really strong enough to survive it all...will she fall to the pressure and dark pain of self destruction or will she find her legs for herself and for Kaleigh?

Which twin will save the other? You gotta read it to find out...those who are familiar with Hopkins work and new fans I believe will not be disappointed with her latest poetic read.

If you like Snatch, Layer Cake and anything done by Guy Ritchie. You will love this book!
The book is not written in your usual chapter and verse format. It is a series of Identical (yet different) poems (on facing pages), by Identical (yet different) twins. The poems end up telling a story of heartbreak, a family torn apart by tragedy, drug addiction, self abuse and horror.
This was a most interesting read!
EMO girls will LOVE it! A great gift idea.

Maybe I missed something when I choose this book, but when it arrived I discovered it was written in freestyle poetry form. What a letdown!

I enjoy poetry, but not when it is used to tell such a graphic, detailed story. This book, for those like me, would have been a big hit if it had been written as a story, not hundreds of poems.

These days, Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" often gets dismissed as "hippie" literature. Yet, this book had been a bestseller LONG before the 1960s. Originally published in 1923, it almost instantly became a hit and even did well through the Great Depression. Today, Gibran's claim to fame is being the third best-selling poet of our time, behind Shakespeare and Lao Tzu... and pretty much entirely based on sales of this book. When his publisher, Alfred Knopf was asked who the audience for the book was, he flippantly dismissed the question. "It Must be a cult," he retorted.

Yet there is no such cult. What's incredible is that there's absolutely no marketing hype behind the success of this book. Gibran himself is long gone. There is no political, religious, or commercial enterprise attached to his name bent on winning souls and/or profits. The Gibran estate has merely been licensing copies year after year in response to the demand - a demand fueled pretty much entirely by word-of-mouth and chance discovery. The fact is, the twenty-six poems in this book have a surprising and suprassing relevance, insight and compassion. Broken down into several topics ("On Love", "On Work", "On Joy and Sorrow", etc.) the book itself recounts the sermons of a fictional poet leaving behind the gift of knowledge before he leaves his homeland.

I first found Gibran through a setting of his poem "On Children" by local Washington, D.C. singers Sweet Honey in the Rock on their album, "Breaths."

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you."

At the time I was about to leave for college and eighteen years of living under my parent's roof had made me restless for autonomy. That poem eloquently expressed everything I was yearning to say to them in my hours of frustration and adolescent angst. It later proved to be a reference to turn to in times where I needed confidence to live an independent and fulfilling life, while still maintaining respect and compassion towards the parents who had raised me.

I am not exaggerating when I say that the poems in this book have kept me grounded and sane throughout some of the most troubling times in my life. Our modern lives are ever hectic, stressful and busy - wrought with drama, frustration, depression, etc. The knowledge in these poems brings me back to a "middle ground" - there is a sage wisdom and clarity in the poems that has often been helpful for me in "unwinding" and coming back to earth. They bring me back to a place of clarity from whcih I can see my life from a wider perspective.

Though Gibran himself was a Christian and despite the title and conceit of the book, this is not really a religious book. The insight in this book would be applicable to your life even if you are an atheist. What's more, the poetry is mostly imagistic. Do not expect the academic poetics of Gibran's contemporaries Eliot or Pound or even Frost. They are written with the aim of being accessible and immediate to the reader and rely mostly on clear metaphors and vivid imagery.

Copies of "The Prophet" are not hard to come by. Perhaps check out the book's table of contexts either using Amazon's "Search Inside" feature or in your local bookstore and see if it addresses a problem or issue you are dealing with. That's a good a place as any to start with. Chances are, you will find something that speaks to you on some level.

I appreciate getting the book at the great price. I'm really not complaining but the book was quite yellow and the jacket was torn in various places. It looked like it was on the shelf for quite a while........Maureen

A very profound, deeply insightful and moving experience! One of my two favorite books of all times. No matter how often you read it, you find something new, some new insight, some amazing revelation, some word of consolation, another stunning example of wordcraft. A masterpiece! Inspired! This book should not be on a book shelf in the library, office or study, but on the bedside table, and the audiobook -- on your Ipod.

One of the ten best books I have ever read. A must for any on the path to Self-awareness. A book of profound understanding of the human dance. Gibran's writing in general is in a class by itself, and The Prophet is his finest work.

I have read this book over a hundered times in the last twenty years, and have given many copies away to friends and acquaintances. If God Himself (or Herself) were to give an opinion on various aspects of a person's life, I believe that his or her words would be very close to what Kahlil Gibran wrote in "The Prophet".

Picked up this book while looking for things to get my son interested in reading. LOVE IT! He giggled and chuckled all the way through, while I had him break down the poems to make sure he was comprehending them. I am buying this book and Julianne Moore's Freckleface Strawberry for the teacher to have in her classroom. This book is great for all the little boys (or girls) in your life. The writing may not be Pulitzer, it totally gets them into reading for enjoyment (and is not bad to have to listen to!).

If you're expecting to read the "typical" Foxworthy book you're going to be disappointed with "Dirt on my Shirt." Instead, you'll discover that his genius is considerably greater and more extensive than you might have thought, based solely upon his "Redneck" books. I recently bought this book for my four-year-old granddaughter and it quickly has become one of her favorites! Buy this book for your children or grandchildren--you won't be disappointed! I heartily recommend it! Michael Garee

I am delighted with this book, honestly I dind't expect the book to be so good and funny but it is indeed!!

I use this book to teach English and my students love the rhymes and images of the book, they really enjoy each class when the book is used.

Congratulation for such a wonderful writting style and edition!!

I am a children's book enthusiast. My 3 year old son has hundreds of books on his shelf mostly bought here on Amazon (great prices AND great service). My husband, son and I love this book. It is just so clever and a really fun bedtime read!

A Unique Bunny

Dirt On My Shirt was just adored by my friends daughter. I bought it to her along with A Unique Bunny. My girlfriends daughter is home schooled and is 8 years old and loved both of these books.

Review by Sherry North, Author, Because You Are My Baby

When I was a child, this book took my breath away. I felt like I was living the incredible adventures in the story, from riding the Birthday Bird to choosing the tallest pet to eating the giant cake. I think this story inspired the adventures I try to create in my own writing.

Now that I'm a mom, I still love this book. It is a little long to hold the attention of toddlers or preschoolers, though, so I recommend it for Kindergarten & up.

I bought this book for both my youngest daughter and our cousin, both who were turning one.

Of course this book is way too advanced for them but I brought it to their 1st birthdays and had everyone who was in attendance sign it. I love looking at all the adorable things people have said and can't wait to show it to them as they get older.

My 2 yr old son destroyed this book just by turning the pages. I wish it were a board book and not a pop up book.

Instead of purchasing birthday cards this year, I purchased several books and wrote a personal message inside the cover. I then passed it around at the birthday parties and invited the guests to also write a message. This will be a wonderful keepsake item for my children and my nieces and nephews.

This is a wonderful book any child should have in their collection. The book can become part of a yearly tradition celebrating their birthdays!

What a treat to buy this for a friend's baby. My youngest child LOVED this book because as others have pointed out, it is fantastic! Just reading the words results in a great rhyme and makes you dance. You can't help it. Babies love it, toddlers love it, and parents love to read it, even the 4,999th time. It makes everyone smile. We wore the cover off and had to buy multiple copies. What a great author, love all her books but this is by far our fave.

If you read this book naturally, the inherent rhythms of the text turn it into a little song unto itself. You can tap your foot to it. Our baby girl dances to the *words* alone.

Get this book. It's brilliant.

This is one of the cutest books ever written for little ones! Great quality for tiny teeth and fingers! It's so eye-catching and colorful, they all LOVE this one!

There is no greater compliment than when a child tries to recite the book BACK to the parents. Boynton has accomplished that with "Barnyard Dance!" Our oldest daughter, who is three, has Developmental Apraxia of Speech. Words do not come easily for her. BUT she adores this book and tries to "read" it to us all the time. Guaranteed to please your little one, I promise.

This one is great for babies and toddlers, and even slightly older kids can get into it. It's one of the ones I really wish existed as a non-board book!

The illustrations are cute, the text is simple and catchy - what more do you want?