Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for kindly providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.
I’m not going to lie, what instantly grabbed my attention and made me want to read this poetry collection was the inclusion of a poem by the inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. As soon as I heard her deliver her extremely powerful inauguration poem (not the poem included here), I instantly knew this was a new poetic voice that I was inspired and awed by, and I wanted to find out anything else she had written- cue an internet rabbit hole! Anyway, I was therefore very excited to get to this collection and see what other poems may speak to me in the same way- it’s been a long time since I’ve been so excited about new poetry.
I found reading this collection such a comforting experience. I think it’s designed to re-ignite hope and gratitude in these very difficult times. Unless you have been living off grid and not had any contact with any other humans in the last year, you can not be unaware and unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic. I know the degrees of this will differ greatly from person to person and country to country, but I do know the colossal impact it has had on my life, and many of the people around me on health, wellbeing and livelihoods. If I ever needed a poetry collection to inspire hope and gratitude, now is certainly time.
As you would expect in any multiple author collections, there were some poems that spoke to me more, and I connected with more than others. I particularly liked the poem by Barbara Crooker entitled “Autism poem: the grid”. I am parent to 2 ASD children so that’s probably not surprising.
I also really liked the interspersed sections that paused the reader and asked them to think of certain things that relate to their own lives. They gave wonderful little opportunities for self reflection and made it feel to me like it was more of a working programme for inner wellbeing, rather than just a poetry collection for the authors to express themselves. There are also some good book group questions at the end as well, which again encourages discussion and connection. I have a feeling I will be returning to this collection again and again.

"How to Love the World" is a lovely collection of poetry by a variety of poets. It's split up into sections and following each section there is a "reflective pause" section, and an invitation to write a response to a question and discuss with a group or with another individual.

Some of the poems were heartfelt, some of them were cautious, some of them were inspiring, some of them were sad. There was something for everyone.

I liked the collection. It's difficult to review poetry because every time I pick up a book of poems I find something new, something I didn't see before. That said, I think this collection would be good for anyone who is looking to be inspired, someone looking for hope. There is a range of different styles and there were only a few poems I didn't care for too much.

This small anthology of poems was a welcome addition to my shelf. Full of positivity, the anthology explores poems and varying topics from nature to love, birth to death, simplicity and overload.

Although I didn’t necessarily connect with all of the poems, I was certainly move by some of them and will be re-visiting those that I have identified as significant to me.

For me, that is the beauty of picking up an anthology; it’s one book that can connect with so many in so many different ways.

As an English teacher, I envision some poems from this anthology making their way into my classroom at some point, particularly those which have reading/discussion prompts attached to them.

What I particularly like about the collection is the way in which Crews actively encourages participation with a number of poems, providing short reflection points throughout the anthology with an exploration of the poems. These reflection points are also accompanied by an activity to assist with mindfulness, self reflection or gratitude.

Overall, this is a lovely little book to dip into during such turbulent times.

I’m not a big fan of poetry, but from time to time I like giving a look to a collection thinking I won’t like it and ending up surprised when I actually like some of them.

Our library has a very small poetry collection I will be purchasing this book for friends. I love the combination of poetry with introspective element. I found it very uplifting.

How to Love the World by James Crews was a wonderful anthology of poems. Every time I picked up this book I felt like I was transported from reality for a little while. I especially appreciated the Reflective Pauses throughout that break down the more significant poems and themes throughout the book and also provide Invitations for Writing and Reflection on those themes. It was a wonderful tie-in with the poems and self-care/reflection. I would recommend this book!

This is a great little book of poetry drawing together various different poets. A couple were really outstanding. The only issue was that they were, in places, very American which made some of the poems less accessible. That being said it is still a great book to dip in and out of.

4 poetic stars
We all need a daily dose of hope and gratitude. How to Love the World provides over 100 short poems to lift and inspire (without being sappy!) Editor James Crews writes that each day he carves out ‘soul time’ for silence and reflection and invites readers to do the same. I appreciate that he included specific suggestions for writing practices based on the suggestions, however they did not have much variety to them.

Topics range from parenting babies to aging, from the seasons and nature to friends to surprises. As expected, some poems resonated more than others. That will change with time and season. Another day, a different one will call my name.

Teachers and book club leaders will appreciate the group questions and topics for discussion at the end. Poet biographies are at the end, and there is a nice diversity of men, women, age and backgrounds.

From poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, “Wherever we go, the chance for joy, whole orchards of amazement – one more reason to always travel with our pockets full of exclamation marks, so we might scatter them for others like apple seeds.” These poems filled my pockets with exclamation marks and delight. I am grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book of poems was such a mix for me. Some i adored and others fell a bit flat. This is not to say that they are bad or would not sit better with others. Poetry is such a personal and circumstantial thing in my opinion and there are so many variables in how I react to a poem,

Such a beautiful collection and one i would definitely revisit in the future and add to my shelf.

This is such a beautiful book. I read the entire book right away. Now each day, I read a page. This poems and words or so inspirational and uplifting. I will order this in book form when it comes out. Great to read before going to sleep or when you wake up to remind you that the world is a positive place where each day offers new possibilities. It a nice reminder to stay in the present and focus on things that really matter.

Highly recommend to all who seek solace and peace in life.

Thank you NetGalley and James Crews for an ARC. I really appreciate this.

This was such a feel-good book of poetry. I also enjoyed the little pauses that the different sections of the book provided. The reflection on what you read and even the reminder to take a moment to write was very inspiring, There were some really beautiful pieces in this collection. A few that struck me most were: Gail Newman's Valentine's Day, Jane Hirshfield's Today, When I Could Do Nothing, Ellen Bass' Any Common Desolation, Ross Gay's Wedding Poem and my favorite one: Sarah Freligh's Wondrous. These were truly a collection of poetry that made me smile, both happily and occasionally a bit mournfully, but always hopeful. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a quick pick-me-up read.

This is a lovely book focused on joyous poetry. It isn't the type of book you inhale in one setting. Some of the poems will resonate and some you will pass over but this quaint book includes something for everyone, and you can dip into it whenever you need, and these days, we need it a lot. One of the early poems is written by Amanda Gorman which should help bring attention to this book. Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely anthology of poetry for our unsettling times. When the book is published I will purchase it so I may dip in and out of it at will. We all need quiet spaces for reflection and gratitude.

The introduction to this anthology sums up it's contents beatifully. It's been a long time since a book full of poetry has resonated with me so much. There is a poem for almost every possible life event that could take place. Each time I open the book, depending on my mood, depends on which poem I choose to read. I haven't read one that doesn't resonate with me in one way or another. A masterpiece!

The cover of How to Love the World is just gorgeous! The introduction "The Necessity of Joy" sets the tone for this anthology. We are going through unprecedented times and I have struggled with gratitude and hope at different times during the pandemic.

The poems featured felt relevant and relatable. Interspersed throughout were "Reflective Pause(s)" meditation and writing prompts which invite the reader to dive into a gratitude practice. I really enjoyed this feature because I journal and meditate on a daily basis..

Finally, there is a Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussion section. I'm considering this for my book club selection for next year and I appreciate books that do this! The bios of the poets at the end was really great. The only poet I heard of was Amanda Gorman (the Youth Poet Laureate who spoke at Biden's inauguration ceremony and Super Bowl LV!)



Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the eARC!

This is a shortish anthology of poems that bring hope, comfort and remind you of the things to be grateful for.

Poems are presented at the beginning of the book with short sections for reflection. At the end of the book is questions posed about each question to generate discussion which would be great for a reading group or equally to ponder alone. I appreciated the short biography of each poet, bringing their words even more to life.

I liked this collection. It is definitely a perfect read for these uncertain and difficult times. It gives you chance to step away from the day to day and take a few minutes to read something uplifting and reflect.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A huge thanks to the publisher Storey Publishing for my Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review. How to Love the World is beautiful, makes you cry collection of poems that share the common theme of gratitude and hope. It features the work of both established poets and promising new voices including inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. This collection will make you escape your life and all its struggles to cling to the hope of new beginnings. I recommend this collection if you in need of a little encouragement

'How to Love the World' is a positive and uplifting collection of poems that focuses on hope, happiness and reflection. The anthology sorts the poems into loosely based themes, and features writing prompts, ideas for discussion, and moments for reflection and thought. This feels like a brilliant book to use to introduce someone to poetry in a way that focuses on mindfulness, due to the fact that many of the poems are fairly short and there are lots of features included that breaks up the poetry. However, sadly, this anthology just was not for me. I struggled to connect with the poems and, despite picking out one or two favourites, I thought that the majority lacked depth and the extra emotion that I usually enjoy in a poem.
Overall, I think this is a great anthology, depending on the interests and expectations of the reader. It was well designed, just not for me.

A nice collection of diverse poetry!

I often find poetry very difficult to review, especially if there's more than one poet in the book because you don't get much of a sense of the poet's work, but there is a great section of poetry covering all sorts of different subjects and includes all sorts of different authors. I have definitely been led to a great selection of new to me poets that I can check out and read more from in the future, as I also struggle to find poetry I can connect with for some reason, which is quite annoying, because I do like it.

There's a lot of poetry based around nature in here which is always something I like to see in poetry because I find that nice to read about and a lot of the poems in here offered excellent descriptions of things in nature that I could picture vividly.

Overall, it's a very good collection full of a wide selection of different authors that I will definitely be recommending to people if they want to get into poetry.

I got about 30% into this. I couldn't connect with the chosen poems, they weren't really very emotive. However, I did like the moments of reflection in this book, I think that's a great idea to have between poems!
But the chosen poems in this collection in my opinion was a let down, I felt bored reading them.