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gar42's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
A really beautiful anthology! I loved the variety of authors, subject matter, and approaches to poems about gardening. The illustrations and book design are beautiful, making this books feel like an artifact, a work of art. I also love how each section begins with a recipe, and invitation to harvest and cook as if with a friend.
thebookishnarwhal's review
5.0
Leaning Toward Light by Tess Taylor is a beautiful anthology and garden book. Readers are introduced to poets overlooked for their attention to the worlds of planting, tending, and nurturing our place in nature. I found this to be a beautiful tribute to Mother Nature in a world slowly filling with “paved paradises” and their encroaching behaviours. This collection pays homage to those who nourish the Earth and find nourishment in return.
This book struck an emotional chord with me, as my late father and I enjoyed spending time in the garden together. The writers and poets pen the hardships and truths of life and how gardening can help them to be conveyed and understood. If you like gardens or nature, this is one to add to your poetry collection. I appreciated Taylor’s efforts to provide a mixture of traditional voices (mainly white males) and contemporary BIPOC voices.
I enjoyed how the collection is divisible by season. Each features a beautiful introduction and a recipe that begs to be tasted. Leaning Toward Light is a book I will be purchasing upon release to add to my nature and garden book collection. I am eager for a new series to emerge each spring. I find the art by Mellissa Castrillon to be so beautiful, and this book can easily be a coffee table all-star.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book struck an emotional chord with me, as my late father and I enjoyed spending time in the garden together. The writers and poets pen the hardships and truths of life and how gardening can help them to be conveyed and understood. If you like gardens or nature, this is one to add to your poetry collection. I appreciated Taylor’s efforts to provide a mixture of traditional voices (mainly white males) and contemporary BIPOC voices.
I enjoyed how the collection is divisible by season. Each features a beautiful introduction and a recipe that begs to be tasted. Leaning Toward Light is a book I will be purchasing upon release to add to my nature and garden book collection. I am eager for a new series to emerge each spring. I find the art by Mellissa Castrillon to be so beautiful, and this book can easily be a coffee table all-star.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
allisonwatkins's review
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
moasrealms's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
kelly_e's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
Title: Leaning toward Light: Poems for Gardens & the Hands That Tend Them
Author: Tess Taylor
Genre: Poetry
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: August 29, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Storey Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad
T H R E E • W O R D S
Thoughtful • Pretty • Chaotic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Caring for plants (much like reading a good poem) brings comfort, solace, and joy to many—offering an outlet in difficult times to slow down and steward growth. In Leaning toward Light, acclaimed poet and avid gardener Tess Taylor brings together a diverse range of contemporary voices to offer poems that celebrate that joyful connection to the natural world.
💭 T H O U G H T S
As an avid reader and green thumb, I was really looking forward to dipping into this collection of poems centering around gardening and the human connection to the natural world. I would by no means consider myself to be a poetry connoisseur, so I didn't really know what to expect.
Divided into seven distinct sections, each with antidotes, illustrations, recipes, a variety of poems or musings, I was able to digest this collection in one sitting. The highlights for me were the recipes, and I preferred the paragraph portions of the writing to the actual poetry. As much as it is organized into sections, it is also disorganized in another way. Some poems didn't really seem to fit where they were. As I progressed, I found myself skimming, which is never a good sign with poetry and/or when it's a topic that interests me.
As an avid gardener and nature lover I expected to love this anthology. However, only several of the poems resonated with me, and the majority did not. Overall, this was a quick read that was highly forgettable and missed the mark for me. Maybe it would be more for the casual reader who enjoys gardening than for avid readers. The artwork is beautiful and it is definitely more of a coffee table book than anything else.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• gardening
• contemporary poetry
• human/nature connection
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"We befriended a plot of earth, and it befriends us in return."
Author: Tess Taylor
Genre: Poetry
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: August 29, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Storey Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad
T H R E E • W O R D S
Thoughtful • Pretty • Chaotic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Caring for plants (much like reading a good poem) brings comfort, solace, and joy to many—offering an outlet in difficult times to slow down and steward growth. In Leaning toward Light, acclaimed poet and avid gardener Tess Taylor brings together a diverse range of contemporary voices to offer poems that celebrate that joyful connection to the natural world.
💭 T H O U G H T S
As an avid reader and green thumb, I was really looking forward to dipping into this collection of poems centering around gardening and the human connection to the natural world. I would by no means consider myself to be a poetry connoisseur, so I didn't really know what to expect.
Divided into seven distinct sections, each with antidotes, illustrations, recipes, a variety of poems or musings, I was able to digest this collection in one sitting. The highlights for me were the recipes, and I preferred the paragraph portions of the writing to the actual poetry. As much as it is organized into sections, it is also disorganized in another way. Some poems didn't really seem to fit where they were. As I progressed, I found myself skimming, which is never a good sign with poetry and/or when it's a topic that interests me.
As an avid gardener and nature lover I expected to love this anthology. However, only several of the poems resonated with me, and the majority did not. Overall, this was a quick read that was highly forgettable and missed the mark for me. Maybe it would be more for the casual reader who enjoys gardening than for avid readers. The artwork is beautiful and it is definitely more of a coffee table book than anything else.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• gardening
• contemporary poetry
• human/nature connection
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"We befriended a plot of earth, and it befriends us in return."
barefootmegz's review
4.0
When I first started gardening, I felt like I didn’t belong. How does one not belong in your own garden? I’ll tell you how: when every thing you know of gardens is written by WASPs and old white classicists, that’s how.
Leaning toward the light is (mostly) modern poetry about gardens, gardening, and the mindfulness that comes with it. It is an anthology that strives to make the gardening community accessible to a 21st century audience in all its iterations - and intersections. And it is beautiful, full-colour: a book I would easily acquire for my coffee table.
Thank you to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for providing an eARC.
Leaning toward the light is (mostly) modern poetry about gardens, gardening, and the mindfulness that comes with it. It is an anthology that strives to make the gardening community accessible to a 21st century audience in all its iterations - and intersections. And it is beautiful, full-colour: a book I would easily acquire for my coffee table.
Thank you to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for providing an eARC.
aly_saurusrex's review
4.0
A beautiful book filled with beautiful poems. Poetry is hit or miss for me and I need to be in the right mindset to be able to enjoy it, so this book took me a while to get through. Once I started though, I jumped around and found some really amazing poems I otherwise wouldn't have read.
kerensa2108's review
2.0
To be honest, this collection of poetry wasn’t for me. I’m sure the poems chosen are very good but they’re just not my style. Too modern! I’m old-school when it comes to poetry - the only ones I enjoyed in this book were the one by A. E. Housman, the two by Keats, and the one by Wendell Berry (I love everything by Wendell Berry although this isn’t one of my favourites). I also appreciated the inclusion of ‘To Everything There Is A Season’ from the Bible - I’m not religious but I do love that piece of writing (although I wouldn’t class it as poetry!) For me, the best bits of this book were the poems I mentioned above, the artwork, some of the pieces of writing and quotes at the beginning of the chapters, and the recipes.
donasbooks's review
4.0
Thank you to the editor Tess Taylor, publisher Storey Publishing, and as always NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of LEANING TOWARD LIGHT.
Poetry anthologies and collections are definitely not all created equal, and this is one of the superior ones-- if you happen to be interested in gardening. For those readers who aren't, they may have trouble connecting to the work in this book.
My favorite thing about LEANING TOWARD LIGHT is the variety. To start with, there are four sections in the anthology, each dedicated to one of the seasons. Also, this book contains more than just poems for each season, but also essays and even recipes. Additionally, so remarkable writers have contributed to this book, like one of my favorite poets, Mark Doty.
A tiny excerpt:
...Three hundred bulbs
Huddle under earth,
Three hundred odds against weather.
When the darkness takes over,
I close my eyes. Everything is just where I left it.
from "Daffodils" by Michelle Gillett
Rating:
Poetry anthologies and collections are definitely not all created equal, and this is one of the superior ones-- if you happen to be interested in gardening. For those readers who aren't, they may have trouble connecting to the work in this book.
My favorite thing about LEANING TOWARD LIGHT is the variety. To start with, there are four sections in the anthology, each dedicated to one of the seasons. Also, this book contains more than just poems for each season, but also essays and even recipes. Additionally, so remarkable writers have contributed to this book, like one of my favorite poets, Mark Doty.
A tiny excerpt:
...Three hundred bulbs
Huddle under earth,
Three hundred odds against weather.
When the darkness takes over,
I close my eyes. Everything is just where I left it.
from "Daffodils" by Michelle Gillett
Rating: