As readers always interested in finding and sharing titles, the book review editors launched a sure-bet survey last summer in advance of LJ’s yearlong celebration of our 150th anniversary. 

We asked each other, librarians, our reviewers, and readers to share their sure-bet reads. We define a sure bet as a book adored by readers of the genre or subject—a title that they think of as “a keeper” or the all-time great work of its kind, one that they might always have in their bag, in their car, or on their phone for reading emergencies. In each issue, we will highlight the most frequently mentioned suggestions.

This month, we feature poetry. This form of expression provides readers with an experience of language, construction, meaning, and moment, vastly larger than the sum of its parts, which themselves are refined and closely considered. Poetry’s appeal is in the space where line, thought, and word combine into a reading experience that offers a revelation beyond what the text appears to hold.

We hope these lists will aid readers’ advisors long past our anniversary, supplying a librarian-crafted list of books for displays, booklists, shelf-talkers, and more. To further aid the field and mark LJ’s birthday, we plan to conduct this survey every five years, offering space to add new titles. We hope you will keep notes as you work and share your findings. Happy reading.

Download the full list of submitted poetry titles or browse the collection on Edelweiss.

Poetry Sure Bets

Carson, Anne. Wrong Norma. New Directions.

Collins, Billy. Nine Horses: Poems. Random.

Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. ed. by Thomas H. Johnson. Little, Brown.

Gay, Ross. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. Univ. of Pittsburgh.

Harjo, Joy. An American Sunrise: Poems. Norton.

Hughes, Ted. Birthday Letters: Poems. Farrar.

Lewis, Robin Coste. Voyage of the Sable Venus: And Other Poems. Knopf.

Limón, Ada. Startlement: New and Selected Poems. Milkweed.

Lovelace, Amanda. the princess saves herself in this one. Andrews McMeel.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. Collected Poems. Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

Oliver, Mary. Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver. Penguin Pr.

Seuss, Diane. Modern Poetry: Poems. Graywolf.

Smith, Danez. Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems. Graywolf.

Szybist, Mary. Incarnadine: Poems. Graywolf.

Vuong, Ocean. Night Sky with Exit Wounds. Copper Canyon.

Read more about the poll methodology.