Assignment #2- Haley Noehren- Poetry is Better than Fantasy

As much as I try, reading has never been one of my top priorities. During middle school I read almost all of the books I ever wanted to so now my to-read list is very short. Despite that, the past year I've tried to expand my reading genres by reading poetry, and it turns out that I love it! There are three books that I've read this year, and they include Arch-Enemies by Marissa Meyer, A Pocketful of Poems by David Madden, and Collected Poems by Paul Auster.

The first book I read this year was Arch-Enemies by Marissa Meyer. Meyer is by far my all-time favorite author, and I've read all of her Lunar Chronicles series. This book is the second in a trilogy, which centers around an alternate universe where people are born with superpowers. Ultimately, a group of supervillians breach the superhero training facility (called the Renegades) by sending one of their members (Nova) to be trained, while secretly acquiring information. As Nova meets new friends at the Renegades she begins to doubt if she should continue with her supervillian past and contemplates fully joining the superheroes.   The book hi-lights the internal conflict that can come from wanting to pursue your own path but feeling bound to uphold your past.

The book A pocketful of Poems by David Madden was the book that got me hooked on poetry. I initially read it out of boredom during the summer, but the more I got into it I discovered all the different ways ideas can be expressed through writing. The book is a small collection of poems that is intended to be used by teachers to help students understand the deeper meaning in poetry. Needless to say, the book fulfilled its purpose and helped me find a different perspective when reading poems and really made me appreciate how poetry is a style of writing that maintains its beauty throughout the years.

After getting into poetry I read Collected Poems by Paul Auster. I actually read this book twice, because the first time I read it I spent too much time looking at the literal meaning of the words, rather than what they represented. After finishing it the second time it had a profound affect on how I viewed the world and the use of language in our daily life. The book is a collection of Paul Auster's poems, with a brief explanation at the beginning. A great deal of Auster's poems focus on how the world is our idea, that everyone's world is different because everyone has different perspectives, and that we only perceive what we notice, so there are a million other things that we may not take into account in our life. Auster also expresses that the experience of language and its use is only a means at describing human existence and that human reliance on communication and words creates the ideas that define us. Overall, I absolutely loved this book because it made me think about human perception and its effects on our existence. If you are looking for something a little deep and philosophical, this is a great book to read.

I'm currently reading Good Poems by Garrison Keillor, which is a great read for anyone wanting to get a taste in poetry on all topics. Poetry isn't for everyone, but reading it has really helped me see the world through a different lens and perspective. Although I don't read many novels or fantasy books anymore, I do enjoy reading the occasional poem.