2022 April Reading Challenge

[Elizabeth]

April is National Poetry Month. Your challenge is to read, or listen to, a book of poetry. It can be a novel in verse like The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling or a collection of poems by the same author like The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, or a collection that includes a lot of different authors like American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time, selected and introduced by Tracy K. Smith.

You can learn more about National Poetry Month here:

https://poets.org/national-poetry-month

[Debbie]

I will be reading The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . At first I wasn't sure if it would count, being it is only one poem. But I did a search and the County has no less than 8 separate books of just this poem or a part of it, both as children's books and adult books. Plus, its 184 pages long. That's good enough for me to claim it's valid!

[Elizabeth]

Yeah, I would say it counts. :)

[Debbie]

It's actually a left-over from our January Challenge when I debated between this and Evangeline. She won and I thought about reading Hiawatha then anyway and ... just didn't. Now I'm glad I didn't!

[Deborah]

Since I have a goal to read the complete works of Shakespeare over time; I am going to read Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare for this prompt. I might follow it up with something lighter by Shel Silverstein. I am thinking Where the Sidewalk Ends would bring back some nostalgic memories of my childhood.

[Greg]

Deborah wrote: "Since I have a goal to read the complete works of Shakespeare over time; I am going to read Shakespeare's Sonnets"

Interesting idea. I've read all the plays, maybe I should do the Sonnets, as well...

[Debbie]

Deborah wrote: "Since I have a goal to read the complete works of Shakespeare over time; I am going to read Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare for this prompt. I might follow it up with s..."

I was suprised at how much I enjoyed Shakespeare's Sonnets. What I would really love is an audio of Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellan or Kenneth Branaugh (sp?) reading them! I love Shel Silverstein, too!

[Deborah]

An audio recording of The Sonnets read by Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen would be awesome!

[Deborah]

Greg wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Since I have a goal to read the complete works of Shakespeare over time; I am going to read Shakespeare's Sonnets"

Interesting idea. I've read all the plays, maybe ..."

Go for it!

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Patrick Stewart did the sonnets on social media during quarantine! You can probably find the videos on his Facebook page.

[Debbie]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Patrick Stewart did the sonnets on social media during quarantine! You can probably find the videos on his Facebook page."

Or maybe YouTube. Don't do Facebook. Thanks for the idea! I was thinking Audible. Too bad they aren't there through Libby or Overdrive (hint, hint Elizabeth. Sonnets are there as ebooks, but not audio. Surely ...)

It would be cool to have Sonnets from the Portuguese, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as audio, too.

Old joke: "How do I love thee, let me count the ways..." So she counted the ways and the book was banned in Boston.

[Audrey]

Not a fan of poetry, but I think one of my other groups is doing a novel in verse this month.

[Greg]

I read Complete Sonnets & Poems by the Bard.

4/4 for 2022

[Brittany]

I am planning to read a novel in verse, Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga.

If anyone is looking for a novel in verse, I would also recommend Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson which I read last year and loved.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Other Words for Home was so so good.

[Elizabeth]

Debbie wrote: "It's actually a left-over from our January Challenge when I debated between this and Evangeline. She won and I thought about reading Hiawatha then anyway and ... just didn't. Now I'm glad I didn't!"

I'm glad you get to read it now, though.

[Elizabeth]

Deborah wrote: "Since I have a goal to read the complete works of Shakespeare over time; I am going to read Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare for this prompt. I might follow it up with s..."

That is ambitious. During the beginning of the pandemic, Patrick Stewart started reading the sonnets online, one a day. So great. If you want to watch Patrick Stewart read it, they are on his instagram page, and that would count, because it's basically an audiobook, right?

https://www.instagram.com/sirpatstew/...

[Elizabeth]

Deborah wrote: "I am thinking Where the Sidewalk Ends would bring back some nostalgic memories of my childhood..."

Also, that's my favorite Shel Silverstein collection, because Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out is part of that book!

[Elizabeth]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Patrick Stewart did the sonnets on social media during quarantine! You can probably find the videos on his Facebook page."

I should have made sure to read all the comments, because I just replicated your info. lol.

[Elizabeth]

Debbie wrote: "Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Too bad they aren't there through Libby or Overdrive (hint, hint Elizabeth. Sonnets are there as ebooks, but not audio. Surely ...)

It would be cool to have Sonnets from the Portuguese, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as audio, too..."

You can request purchases here:
https://www.slcolibrary.org/informati...

Just make sure you pick eAudiobooks in the format section

[Debbie]

Elizabeth wrote: "Debbie wrote: "Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Too bad they aren't there through Libby or Overdrive (hint, hint Elizabeth. Sonnets are there as ebooks, but not audio. Surely ...)

It would be cool to h..."

Thanks!

[Brittany]

I just finished Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga - such a good book! I read it in less than 24 hours. Did not want to put it down. This is the kind of book I want my children to read. Beautifully written, and such an important message.

[Audrey]

I checked out Red, White, and Whole for another group, so it can count double now.

[Elizabeth]

Brittany wrote: "I just finished Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga - such a good book! I read it in less than 24 hours. Did not want to put it down. This is the kind of book I w..."

I'm so glad. I really enjoy that book.

[Audrey]

I finished Red, White, and Whole -- very fast book.

[Debbie]

I have read The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ( Review. ) It was a good listen. I don't care so much for reading poetry but I like listening to poetry well read. There's not much worse than poetry poorly read -- done to the cadence we did as children with Mary Had A Little Lamb, a pause and the end of each line. That makes me crazy.

[Mary]

I read a children's poetry collection with my six year old. Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies and gorgeous illustrations by Mark Hearld.

[JoAnn]

I just read my six year old "The Raven." He thought the raven repeating "Nevermore" was goofy. He thought the end was goofy and scary because the raven never moved and says "we'll never know if it was a demon or not."
I'd say he got a fairly good grasp of the poem despite all the big words and complicated style.
I was watching an autobiography about EAP and my son asked who he was.

Edit to add: He asked for another work by Poe. I just read him "The Tell Tale Heart." He loved it.

[Tanya]

I read Glass by Ellen Hopkins. It's not super sophisticated poetry, but it's been on my to-read list for a while, so this was a good time for it.

[Elizabeth]

JoAnn wrote: "I just read my six year old "The Raven." He thought the raven repeating "Nevermore" was goofy. He thought the end was goofy and scary because the raven never moved and says "we'll never know if it ..."

I LOVE that! When, I was like 10, we had to memorize a poem for school, and I totally checked out his complete works, with the idea that I could memorize The Raven, and then decided it was too long. And went with a poem entitled To F-------- He had crossed out the rest of the name. Love Poe. My favorite line was "My soul at least a solace hath/in dreams of thee, and therein knows/An Eden of bland repose" It's about a lost love, and a little bit melancholy and I love it so.

[Elizabeth]

Tanya wrote: "I read
Glass
by Ellen Hopkins. It's not super sophisticated poetry, but it's been on my to-read list for a while, so this was a good time for it."

I've read a few Ellen Hopkins books - Actually, the first one I read was Triangles, and it was SO ANGSTY, but it was also for adults, so I thought I'd give her YA stuff a try - STILL super angsty. I have to be in the mood, you know? I really liked Sonya Sones YA novels in verse though, the ones I read at least, like What My Mother Doesn't Know. Still angsty, but more believable, I thought.

[Debbie]

JoAnn wrote: "I just read my six year old "The Raven." He thought the raven repeating "Nevermore" was goofy. He thought the end was goofy and scary because the raven never moved and says "we'll never know if it ..."

I've never known a kid who didn't love Poe. And, once they know Poe is classic American literature, it opens the door to other classic American literature, although none of it like Poe.

Tell him about the Poe Toaster who from 1949 until 2009 left a half-filled bottle of French cognac and three roses at his grave. The Toaster was never identified and the tradition ended with Poe's 200th birthday. The Toaster would come, place the roses on the grave, raise a glass of the cognac and drink it, then place the remaining bottle on the grave beside the roses. The roses were assumed to be for Poe, his wife Virginia and his mother-in-law Maria Clemm. The ladies are also under Poe's monument.

In 1999, a note was left saying "the torch has been passed" indicating the Toaster had passed away leaving the tradition to others who were less consistent than had been the original Toaster. In 2009 the visits had stopped completely.

In 2016, the tradition was somewhat revived by the Maryland Historical Society. However, rather than being a single solitary visitor, the event has become a public celebration.

[Debbie]

I had raised the question here and now there is an answer. The Grand Opening of the Daybreak Branch is April 30! Hooray!

[Linda]

I read Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
For those that may not know, this is the book that the Musical 'Cats' is based on.
For fun I found some of the songs and listened to them. I was not aware that the songs were word for word the poems in the book.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Realizing that Cats is from TS Eliot explained so much when I saw it lol

[Greg]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Realizing that Cats is from TS Eliot explained so much when I saw it lol"

lol

[Whitney]

I don’t know if Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson counts it wasn’t classified as poetry on goodreads but I also read I Didn’t Ask to be Crazy by Sadee Bee which was a collection of poems about the author’s life with mental illness.

[Teresa]

I read Flower Fairies Of The Spring by Cicely Mary Barker.

[Linda]

Do we have a challenge for May yet? I go to the library on Saturdays and would like to be able to get my book tomorrow. :)

[Elizabeth]

Hello everyone!

Can you believe it's almost May?

Don't forget to post what you've read for this reading challenge to enter into the drawing. If you only posted that you were going to read something, please let me know if you've finished. Thanks!

p.s.
May reading challenge is up!

[Deborah]

It took me all month but I finished Shakespeare's Sonnets. Thanks to whoever suggested listening to Patrick Stewart's Sonnet readings. It made it a lot more enjoyable than if I had just read them straight.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I listened to Solo by Kwame Alexander and
definitely recommend it.

[Debbie]

Deborah wrote: "It took me all month but I finished Shakespeare's Sonnets. Thanks to whoever suggested listening to Patrick Stewart's Sonnet readings. It made it a lot more enjoyable than if I had jus..."

That would be Elizabeth, just saying in case she is too shy to say so. It's something that plagues many librarians, but was never a hinderance to me. I like the attention too much! ;-)

[alisonwonderland (Alison)]

I’m slow posting but I finished ‘What Kind of Woman’ by Kate Baer and ‘Phenomenal Woman’ by Maya Angelou before April 30. I’m still working on ‘Devotions’ by Mary Oliver and ‘Call Us What We Carry’ by Amanda Gorman.

[alisonwonderland (Alison)]

Oh, and also half through ‘An American Sunrise’ by Joy Harjo. I didn’t really realize how much I enjoy poetry!

[Elizabeth]

Debbie wrote: "Deborah wrote: "It took me all month but I finished Shakespeare's Sonnets. Thanks to whoever suggested listening to Patrick Stewart's Sonnet readings. It made it a lot more enjoyable t..."

It wasn't just me, Britt recommended them first! I love Patrick Stewart. :)

[Elizabeth]

Whitney is our prize drawing winner for April 2022’s reading challenge for reading Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson and I Didn't Ask to Be Crazy by Sadee Bee.

Congratulations!

[Linda]

Congratulations Whitney

[Debbie]

Hooray Whitney.