Tra la la la End of Year Poetry Book Recommendations

Lately I have been very much involved in the great American rush to string the cranberries and popcorn (it is not easy as it sounds), bake the chocolate cookies (they must be crispy and chewy), stir the egg nog into the whiskey (goes down smooth but requires immediate one-hour high-intensity workout to offset epic caloric consumption), and all order of holiday merriment, but I have also been busy compiling lists of my favorite poetry book and lit mag reads of 2011, plus reading those of others.

While I put the final touches on my extended list of the books/mags I most fervently and heartily endorse, please turn your gaze to the fine recommendations by past and present contributors at The Kenyon Review, including yours truly.

While you are at it, have a gander at Jeannine Hall Gailey's bow-perfect list of her 2011 picks.

It's also a good time to cherish and patronize your favorite local bookstores; in Seattle that would be ... Third Place Books, Elliott Bay Book Company, and Open Books: A Poem Emporium.

All this good reading, eating, imbibing, and supporting of local businesses makes me feel so warm and cozy! Won't you join me in spreading good cheer by spending your holiday money allocation supporting writers and buying their books locally? Artists at places like Etsy appreciate your money, too, as do places like the National Audubon Society (Seward Park here in Seattle has a wonderful store). I'm not quite ready to give my friends the gift of charitable donations, but purchasing items from environmental/do-gooder organizations, including Goodwill Industries, is a great way to help out others and keep the landfills a tad less choked.