I spent the entirety of my October reading poetry manuscripts from my fellow classmates in the Brooklyn Poets Mentorship Program, a year long program of intensive study that culminates in the completion of full collections by participants. It has been an inspiration and a joy to see my classmates’ work come together (and my own work come together)! It also means I read 11 poetry manuscripts this month that are not reflected in this post because the work is not yet out into the world– though the world will be better when they arrive.

But of the books I can disclose, I read some really great ones. From Dean Rader‘s ekphrastic tribute to the memory of his mother and father, Before the Borderless: Dialogue with the Art of Cy Twombly, to the first ever YA adoptee anthology, When We Become Ours (edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung), to Josh Malerman‘s spooky season standout Bird Box, it was another fun month turning pages.

Check out these books at your favorite indie, or at my Bookshop storefront here.